Heart's True Side
by Vankor
Summary: Sequel to Omega XVIII, Recap in chap 1. The darkness was sealed three years ago and Riku's spent the time traveling while Kairi trained. Beings from the dark realm appear when he gets home. Who are they how did they get out and what ever happened to Sora?
1. Bright Darkness

**AN: **I'm putting a _brief_ recap of Omega XVIII here so you don't have to read that story to understand this one but it is suggested. Do not read the recap if you haven't read Omega XVIII and plan to, it will ruin the story. If you have already read it, you can skip the recap and go straight on to the chapter.

**Heart's True Side**

**Omega XVIII recap:**

Group of Nobodies calling themselves the Beta Organization kidnap Sora and several other heroes to make an army of human-form Nobodies and bring back the original Organization. Riku and the others manage to free a few, who then help free Sora. Riku and Kairi are also taken captive, but also freed quickly. Among the Beta's are a group of four neutrals called the Omegas.

One Omega is defeated and two leave the Organization, their personal goals met. The third betrays the Organization and kills the leader taking over. His goal is to kill the Black King and become the ruler of the Dark Realm. He kills the Black Queen to gain the power but Sora and the others, with the aid of the other Omegas, the two who had left the Organization and a third, the fifth and last member of the group, fight and defeat him. The resurrected Organization is killed in the fight.

The Black King showed his face and dealt the wounding blows to the traitorous Omega, allowing Sora to finish him off. The Omegas show themselves to be heroes, one teaching Sora new abilities and all of them telling of a prophecy. They also give Sora six of the eight Legendary Keyblades (Rock Breaker, Flare Bright, Wolfsbane, Belladonna's Kiss, Soulripper, and Blackhowl) and tell him the last two (Ragnarok and Masamune) can only be used by the Keymaster. The keybladers hope Sora will fulfill this prophecy, to be the Keymaster and finally kill the Black King. While the mages (Merlin etc.) look into the prophecy to see if it can be Sora, the Omegas take the keybladers for training.

Sora gets mental training where he meets six of his seven other selves (the seven parts of the personality; Courage, Knowledge, Honor, Friendship, Anger, Truth, and Love). All three also get intense physical training in a special room that has time flow differently. They are trained by a man named John.

After the training the mages decide that Sora is as close as they can get to the prophecy and take him to the battlefield, where he must fight alone. The mages and Omegas watch, and the White King and Queen arrive to watch the bout as well. Sora challenges the Black King but is barely holding his own. John arrives and aids Sora in the fight. It is revealed that John fought the Black King to a draw previously, and the White King made the keyblades because John could not win.

The Black King delivers a mortal wound to Sora and sends him flying. Sora is sent to his other selves and just before dieing realizes and admits he loves Kairi as she admits out loud that she loves him, neither hearing the other. He is then brought back to life by the White Queen, who states she can resurrect someone at the moment of death if they are worthy. Sora achieves his ultimate form and reenters the fight, gaining Masamune and Ragnarok as he fights.

John sacrifices himself to give Sora the chance to defeat the Black King, which he takes and wins the fight. Sakura states she can only bring someone back once so John remains dead. Sora returns to the others and the White King and Queen introduce themselves to him, the White Queen passively placing a spell on Kairi. Sora is told that to seal off the realm he must be on the other side, with all the legendary keyblades, and lock the door, while Riku and Kairi lock it form this side.

Sora's selves are removed from him so that he will not suffer in the Dark Realm, because he can never return. Riku reluctantly agrees though Kairi is fine with it. The spell placed on her was to take Sora from her heart, so instead of love she hates him. This is because the princesses of heart, if working together, could open the door, but if Kairi hates Sora she'll never agree to bring him back. Sora is locked away and the worlds are sealed off, only one gummi ship, which the Omegas give to Riku, can still travel between them. The Heroes are returned home and all is well. Except in the Black Castle of the Black King a being is putting into motion some sort of plan that will surely disrupt all peace…

**Chapter 1: Bright Darkness**

19. Kairi was now 19 years old, or rather, she will be tomorrow. She was currently on the second largest island of the small chain of isles that made the Destiny Islands. It was the island she always played on growing up, and where all her best memories were, at least, her beset memories from this world. It's been three years since she was last off world, and just over two since she last saw her best friend, Riku.

She currently wore light tan shorts that went just past her knees, a pink short sleeve top with a white hood and white gym shoes. She wore a golden bracelet on each wrist, and Sora's crown charm was still at its place around her neck, though to her mind it belonged to Sakura, the White Queen. Her hair was just as red as ever and went just past her shoulders; it was currently tied back, due to her current activity of training with her keyblade.

She practiced everyday; Sakura had warned that danger wasn't gone, even if darkness was, and so Kairi was determined to be ever ready. Of course, that didn't stop her from getting startled and loosing her balance when the loud boom of an engine roared overhead. Kairi looked up form the ground where she currently lay to see a gummi ship she recognized immediately, and knew who was flying the instant she did.

Kairi hopped to her feet and started after the ship as she watched it land, Destiny's Promise vanishing in a white light as she ran. The ship touched down on the beach and by the time the door opened to let its occupants off Kairi had reached it. She waited outside the ship, rather impatiently so, for her friend to appear. When the man stepped out of the ship Kairi had to do a double take, he was barely recognizable, but it was still Riku.

His unkempt silver hair was long, though not to his shoulders, reminiscent of his younger days. He wore John's coat and had apparently had good use for it. He wore black combat boots and blue denim pants that, like the coat, had been put through their paces. His white undershirt seemed to not know the damages he had, and Kairi suspected the delay in him getting off the ship was caused by him having to find a new shirt.

There was a black katana on Riku's left hip, and John's sword at the back of his waits, where John wore it. On the right side of Riku's sword belt was what looked like a sword handle, but it had no blade or crossbar. But the thing that stood out most about Riku was what made Kairi do the double take, there were three scars that crossed his face, two ran parallel from under his right eye to the left side of his chin, and the other ran from the left side of his forehead to left side of his mouth. None of these scars went over an eye, but the two crossed his nose.

"Hey Kairi, happy belated birthday," Riku said with a grin as he hopped off the ship.

Kairi ran up and hugged her friend "Hey to you too, and my birthdays not 'til tomorrow," she said with a grin.

"Yeah, but I still missed last years," Riku said with a shrug as the two separated.

"So, how are thing at home?" Riku asked as he started walking towards the Poupu tree.

Kairi, however, stayed put trying to see into the ship, squinting her eyes in an attempt to see through the darkness, "Where is she?" she asked.

Riku turned to her with a confused look on his face, "She who?"

"The girl who kept you away from home so long, you know, your girlfriend, or is she a wife?" Kairi added the last part as she turned to look at Riku with a sly look on her face.

Riku put a hand to his forehead and groaned "will you ever grow up?" before turning back and continuing towards the tree.

Kairi laughed as she ran to catch up with Riku and they made their way to the tree in humored silence. When they reached the tree Kairi filled Riku in on what happened on the islands while he was gone, which was pretty much nothing at all. Riku then filled Kairi in on what he did while he was gone. The first thing he did was to go to the word of all their friends, everyone they met during their three adventures. The Omega's gave him John's sword, the people of Chad's world gave him a special katana and taught him how to use it, Naruto taught him some special techniques, and Krillin taught him how to fly though this ability seemed to only work on certain worlds.

Someone form Aarkan's word gave Riku a seal that could instantly transport him to any part of Aarkan's world that he's been to, and even to any world he's visited while he had it. He then revisited every world he ever went to with the seal so he could use its transportation. He went to a few different world that were in the middle of wars, and found himself fighting in many of those wars, one such war is where he got the sword handle, he called it a lightsaber, and showed Kairi that when he turned it on a blue beam of light came from the tip. It was nearly nightfall by the time Riku finished his tale.

"Wow, you've done a lot in two years, I'm kinda jealous," Kairi said watching the sun set.

"Yeah, but you said you didn't want to come, you wanted to stay here," Riku said with a shrug.

"I know, and I'm glad I did, some parts would have been fun, like meeting everyone again, but I would have hated the wars," Kairi said looking over at Riku.

"Yeah, I know, I kinda figured I'd end up in a few anyway," he said with a weak grin.

"So, what was John's home world like? You never mentioned it, I thought you said it would be your first stop when you left," Kairi said after a long pause.

"Yeah, it was, but I never landed," Riku said in a quite voice.

"Too scared?" Kairi asked giving Riku a concerned look.

"No, there was nowhere to land, the world's gone, there's nothing at the site in the gummi," Riku said turning his gaze to the stars.

Then he saw something, something he hadn't seen for years, something he had only seen once in his life, and it brought bad news with it. Riku kept his gaze to the sky, and slowly rose to his feet, as he did Kairi became aware of what he was doing and got to her feet as well, though her eyes remained on Riku.

"What is it, what's going on?" she asked glancing at the sky, as she did she saw what Riku was watching.

Kairi can't count how many shooting stars she's seen, how many wishes she's made upon them, but she's only seen something remotely like this before, and it was good news when she did, but she knew it brought the bad before it brought the good. Up in the sky, seen in the dark of night, were two shooting stars.

When Riku last saw more than one shooting star at once it broke Destiny Islands and separated him from his friends. When Kairi last saw more than one shooting star at once it was Destiny Islands being brought back from destruction, though she never saw its destruction, when Riku described it to her, it seemed to happen in a similar way to its reforming.

"What do you think it is? It can't be another gummi ship, can it?" Kairi asked her fear evident in her voice.

"No, if it was a gummi breaking the seal it'd be hundreds of falling stars," Riku said.

"Well, these aren't really falling, maybe were fine," Kairi added hopefully.

"I don't know, the almost look like they are falling…" Riku said watching the two white lights critically.

As they watched it became apparent and obvious that they were falling towards the two. Both took quick actions, Riku grabbing up the items he had shown Kairi as she ran straight for the gummi ship. The two made it inside the ship with time to spare, once Riku was on board Kairi took off and steered them around, staying in the atmosphere but getting out of the path of the stars.

The two watched in silence as the stars slammed into the ground on the island they just left. Kairi pulled the ship around and landed in the water at the docks by her rowboat. They both got out, Kairi holding Destiny's Promise while Riku held his lightsaber, the blade retracted.

They approached the twin impacts together, both being cautious of what the stars may truly be. Riku slowed to a near crawl when he saw what the stars really were, and Kairi froze completely.

"Are those what I think they are?" She asked tentatively.

"Yeah, they're keyblades," Riku said not taking his eyes off the blades currently stuck in the sand of the beach.

"I know that, I meant, are they the ones I think they are?" Kairi asked walking closer to the blades.

"Soulripper and Belladonna's Kiss. Two of the legendary keyblades," Riku said with a nod at each blade when he said their names.

"They were with Him though, they were with him when he was sealed away," Kairi said watching Riku as he put his weapon away.

"Yeah, Sora had all eight legendary's with him when we sealed him away in the darkness," Riku said with a slight pain as he remembered his friend, and what Kairi currently thought of the boy.

"Then… does this mean he found a way out? Is he back?" Kairi asked in a slightly angered tone.

"I hope not, cause if he found a way out, the darkness might come back too," Riku said as he reached Belladonna's Kiss, the closer of the two keys.

Kairi didn't respond to that, she just watched as Riku reached out to touch the blade and instantly pulled away as if burned.

"What's wrong?" Kairi asked as she approached Riku, her keyblade gone.

"It's ice cold," Riku said eyeing the blade before turning to Soulripper and touching it with his other hand to the same effect, "and that one's burning hot."

"I guess that means we can't move them," Kairi said looking back and forth between the two.

"Not now at lest. It's pretty late, maybe in the morning they'll be better tempered," Riku said before starting for his ship.

"You gunna come back to the other island, meet back up with everyone?" Kairi asked as she caught up with Riku.

"Tomorrow, I don't wanna knock on sleeping doors," Riku said as they reached the ship, "you're welcome to sleep on board if you want," he said as he reached the door to the ship.

"No, I should probably head back home, unlike you I'm missed when I gone to long," Kairi said with a small smile.

"Ouch," Riku mocked grabbing his chest in pain, "alright, I'll see you tomorrow then, we'll check out the keyblades first thing."

Kairi nodded and saluted, "Yes sir!" before getting into her boat and heading back to the larger island.

Riku shook his head, gave one last look at the two keyblades, and entered the ship. He left the door open, knowing Kairi would be up and on the island before he was. Riku was proven right early the next day as Kairi's little boat arrived at the island and she made her way towards the ship. She reached the door and saw it was open, taking it as an invitation inside Kairi walked into the ship and towards the living quarters.

It had been years since she had been on this ship, or any gummi ship for that matter, yesterday didn't count because she was in the cockpit the whole time, and even then was for only a few minutes. As Kairi walked through the ship towards the room Riku used she saw the definite marks of the ship being his home for years.

Kairi knocked on the door to the first cabin she reached and after hearing no response she went inside, though stopped in the doorway at what she saw. This was not the cabin Riku was staying in, but it wasn't left useless. The walls were covered with several weapons and pieces of armor, racks and display mounts cluttered the floor with a collection that would rival most armories.

"Like the collection?" a voice sounded from behind Kairi making her jump slightly. She turned to see Riku standing there in his pants and undershirt, a smile on his face.

"Just caught me by surprise is all, I would have thought the keyblade was enough," she said stepping further into the room Riku following her.

"The keyblade is perfect against the darkness, but outside of that it's just another weapon, and an oddly handled one at that. I'm not saying I never use it, but I never show it unless I need to, it's more of a last resort," Riku said as he followed behind Kairi as she looked at the weapons and armor he had.

"Well those look familiar," Kairi said pointing at two lightsaber handles. "Why do you have three of them, or is one the one you showed me?" Kairi asked as Riku walked towards the sabers.

"Luke gave me one, and said the mark of a master is making one for yourself. I made the one I carry, he gave me that one," Riku pointed to the right of the two sabers and grabbed the left one, "and I made this one for you, happy birthday," he said as he tossed the saber to Kairi.

Kairi was startled by the throw but still caught the saber and looked it over, "did you really make this for me?" she asked looking back at Riku.

He nodded, "Yeah, just don't turn it on inside, I don't wanna damage anything in here," he said looking around, as was thus caught by surprise when Kairi grabbed him in a hug.

"Thank you, it means a lot that you made this for me," she said before letting go of Riku and looking the saber handle over once more before placing it on her belt.

Riku smirked at her before turning and going deeper into the room, "it's no problem really," he said before turning, "you can head outside, I'll be right there," he added as he walked in-between the racks and displays.

Kairi nodded her understanding and left the ship turning her saber on to learn that it was pink in color. A few minutes later Riku came out, he had no weapon on his belt, and his coat was also off, but he had a black sheathed katana in his right hand. When he reached Kairi he held the katana out to her, "the lightsaber is for the birthday I missed, this one's for today."

Kairi just looked at the blade, and hesitantly reached out for it, "what… what does it do?" she asked as her fingers closed around the sheath.

"Remember the one Chad's friend gave me, I asked for a second one for you. It's got special powers that develop as you get a stronger bond with it," Riku said letting go of the blade.

"Bond?" Kairi asked not taking her eyes off the sword.

"Through meditation, I'll show you the methods and all that later, lets deal with the keyblades first," Riku said turning towards the two keyblades but froze as soon as he faced them.

A black portal had opened on the beach on the other side of the keyblades. A large man in black plate armor stood in front of it, facing Riku and Kairi. His eyes were pure black as was the hair that reached his shoulders. There was a large axe on his back and he held the helm for his armor in his right arm.

"You don't have to worry about dealing with the keyblades, we'll take care of them," he said while grinning.

Riku and Kairi stood and watched as two more walked out of the portal, though the portal did not vanish. The second one out was smaller than the first, though still a full grown man. He wore a hooded overcoat similar to the organization one, but still distinctly different. The hood was down showing his tan skin and pure black eyes. His head was shaven and he wore a cloth over his mouth.

"Ah, finally, I was beginning to think your senses were wrong, it took us all night to find these," he said as he walked around the left of the first man, stopping beside him when he noticed Riku and Kairi, "oh look, spectators," he said with a laugh.

The third to leave was the smallest of the three and he also stood out the most. Unlike the other two who were dressed in full outfits the third man was dressed in rags and scraps of cloth, haphazardly stitched and pieced together to cover him. Random places had gaps in them and some gaps were larger than others. Like the other two, he was dressed fully in black, the sleeves of his shirt ended around the elbows and he wore fingerless gloves. He also had a cloth over his mouth but his extended behind him and hung down to his waist. His hair was somewhat spiky and dark brown, his eyes were glowing yellow and his skin a deathly pale white.

The third said nothing as he walked out of the portal and showed no sign of surprise at seeing Riku and Kairi, almost as if he expected them to be there. Neither he nor the second man had any apparent weapons on them, but they had just arrived and already stated they were here for the keyblades.

"Whaddaya say; do we get to play a bit before heading back?" the second man asked.

"I don't object, but I'm sure Siv would, it being counter productive and all," the large man said with a slight annoyance.

The smallest man merely let out what Riku could only guess was a growl; the voice was so rough and animalistic. Both of the other two men looked at the smallest in a slight alarm.

"Alright then, I get the other," the large man said with a wide grin as he looked at Riku.

"Hey man, no fair! It was my idea!" the second man said looking at the large man.

Riku found it somewhat odd, the first man was the largest, noticeably and sizable larger than the second or third, and yet the second man would challenge him over the smallest. Riku could only wonder what power the smallest had to warrant no objections. At that point Riku noticed the large man was eyeing him so he started edging closer to Kairi, and that's when he realized what the smallest said, it wasn't a growl, he was calling dibs, dibs on fighting Kairi. Either because she was a girl, or the only of the two of them armed, but Riku was going to change that quickly.

"Kairi, hand me the saber, it looks like were in for a fight," Riku whispered to Kairi.

Kairi nodded and handed the lightsaber to Riku before fastening the katana belt around her waist and drawing the blade, "looks like I get to test this out today," she said with a slight grin.

"No, screw this, if I don't get a kill here we're done," the second man said before moving swiftly forward, grabbing Belladonna's Kiss and bolting back through the portal.

"Damnit Xah! We need to bring both together," the large one shouted as the second vanished into the portal. Cursing a few more times the large man walked forward to take Soulripper but Riku moved quickly to meet him at the blade, lightsaber on.

"The other acted before we could react, but you're not getting both keyblades," Riku said firmly as he reached the large man.

"Listen kid, because of Xah's stupidity I ain't got the time it'll take to kill you, so just back off," the large man said as he reached for the keyblade.

Riku acted fast and swung the lightsaber over the handle of Soulripper stopping the large man from grabbing it. The large man sighed, put his helm on and drew his axe. Riku took a swing at him while his hands were occupied but the man dodged the attack with unexpected ease. Once the axe was in the large mans hands the edge of each blade began to glow red, the same was a lightsaber glowed.

"You still wanna do this kid. I don't mind killing you, but I ain't got the time, and neither does your girl," the large man said gesturing behind Riku.

Riku didn't look, but he started to circle the large man so he could keep an eye on him and see Kairi. When he did see Kairi she wasn't moving, suspended in the air in a pulsing transparent blue sphere, her katana was on the ground before her.

"Thanks Siv," the large man said before grabbing Soulripper and bolting for the portal, he was too close to it and to far from Riku by the time Riku realized what happened.

As soon as the large man was gone the sphere around Kairi vanished and she fell to the floor but managed to land on her feet. Riku looked over at the smallest man, apparently named Siv, and now the last of the intruders left. He had made no motion of casting a spell on Kairi; his hands were still at his sides, as they were when he left the portal.

Riku rushed over to Kairi as soon as she landed, "are you okay?"

"Fine, I just wasn't expecting that, he made no motion to cast," Kairi said as she picked her katana back up.

Riku looked over at Siv, "what's your game, what do you want, what are you trying to do?" he demanded.

Siv looked back at the portal before looking towards the two again and reaching into an apparent pocket and pulling out a shiny object that he tossed towards Riku and Kairi. It landed where the keyblades were, to far for either to see what the object really was.

Then the voice came again, the growl voice, it wasn't as harsh as last time, Riku could understand it much better as he spoke. Kairi looked at Siv blankly as he growled but Riku was listening hard, trying to interpret what he was saying. When he was done talking Siv turned and walked through the portal, it closed behind him.

"What was that, did you understand him?" Kairi asked and Riku nodded, "well, what did he say?" she asked in a nearly demanding voice.

"That story is done, its final chapter written. We are now in the pages of a new tale," Riku said, his eyes on where the object Siv threw was.

"How could you understand that?" Kairi asked looking back where the portal was.

"I'm not sure I did, that's what I think he said," Riku said before walking over to where the object was, "Kairi…"

Kairi rushed over to Riku and froze when she saw the object, instinctively grabbing the charm around her neck, "is… is that?"

Riku nodded as he knelt down to pick the item up, "yeah, it is…"

"Then, was that him?" Kairi asked kneeling down next to Riku.

"I'm not sure," Riku said as he fingered the golden crown charm in his hands, the charm that Gandalf gave Sora before he entered the realm of darkness. It wasn't unnerving that Siv had it, Sora could have easily discarded it in the dark realm, not needing its powers any longer, or if its powers ran dry. It was the blood stains on the charm; a red blood that heartless did not posses, which made Riku fear for his friend.


	2. Task at Hand

**Chapter 2: Task at Hand**

"Riku what should we do?" Kairi asked as she watched Riku stand back up.

"We have to tell the king, we have to tell the White King that the dark realm has reopened," Riku said turning back to face the ship, the charm slipping into his pocket.

Kairi nodded and started back for the ship in front of Riku. She was expecting him to stop her, but he didn't, either he didn't realize what she was doing or he wanted her to come. The two were silent as they walked to the ship, Riku passing Kairi her lightsaber back as he caught up to her.

When they reached the door to the ship Riku stopped Kairi, "hold on a sec."

"No Riku! I'm coming with you and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" Kairi demanded as she spun to face Riku.

"I know," Riku said taking a step back, "I was just gunna say you might want to pack a bag and let everyone know you're leaving before we go. It'll take me a bit to get the ship ready to go anyway," Riku said gesturing towards the gummi ship.

"Oh," Kairi said turning red and looking at her feet. "I'll be right back, then," she said before turning and running off, "and you better not leave without me!" she shouted as she ran.

Riku chuckled to himself as he headed into the ship to get it ready to take off. The two were in the ship and in space within the hour. Riku piloted the vessel while Kairi found a room to put her things in. When that chore was done she joined Riku in the cockpit.

"So we're going to Disney Castle first then?" she asked as she sat down.

"Yeah. We need to tell the White King, but King Mickey might know something and we might not need to bother Him," Riku said as he checked the ships navigation.

"When was the last time you saw any of them?" Kairi asked after a time of silence.

"It was my first stop after I left the Islands, it'll be my first time back since then," Riku said as he watched the stars pass by.

There was another long silence before Kairi broke it again, "how do you think they got they keyblades out of the darkness, and who do you think they were?"

"I have no idea who they were, but I think the keyblades may have gotten themselves out, if Sora was defeated or dead, they would have no master," Riku said softly, the rest of the journey to Disney Castle was in silence.

When they arrived things were in a state of panic, it didn't take long for the two to learn that Blackhowl had landed in the castle courtyard and being draped in darkness had come to claim it before disappearing into darkness. It took considerably longer for the two to find a face they recognized, and called out to Goofy as soon as they saw him.

"Riku! Kairi! What are you doing here?" Goofy asked once the pair had reached him.

"Looking for the king, where is he?" Riku asked with a look around.

"He's over in the courtyard. Him and Donald are trying to find out how that keyblade got here, or the person in black," Goofy said as he pointed in the direction of the courtyard.

"What are you up to then?" Kairi asked as Riku started to head off.

"Oh, King Mickey asked me to try and calm everyone down. Gee, I guess I better get going then," Goofy said as he ran off with a wave.

Riku and Kairi ran off towards where Goofy pointed and soon reached the courtyard where Mickey and Donald were examining the ground near the center.

"King Mickey, what happened?" Riku asked as he and Kairi reached the two.

"Oh, Riku, Kairi! What are you two doing here?" Mickey asked seeing the pair.

"Belladonna's Kiss and Soulripper landed on Destiny Islands yesterday. Today three people from the darkness came and took them, we wanted to know what you might," Riku said trying to see what Mickey was examining before.

"I'm afraid I don't know any more than you, Blackhowl landed here yesterday and a woman in black came and got it before we could do anything," Mickey said pointing to the mark the keyblade had left in the ground.

"How did the keyblades get out?" Kairi asked.

"I don't know, I was hoping to get word out to the Omegas to ask them," Mickey said turning back towards them.

"We'll go then, the White King was out next stop anyway," Riku said crossing his arms.

Before Mickey could respond someone ran up to him, whispered in his ear and hurried off. "Excuse me fellas, but someone's here I need to talk to," Mickey said before running off.

"Where's he going?" Kairi asked watching the king leave.

"The throne room. It's where guests usually go when they want to talk to the king," Donald said looking at Riku.

"What, sorry," Riku said raising his hands defensively and Kairi let out a laugh. "Anyway, do you know who he's meeting?" Riku asked lowering his arms.

Donald got a smirk on his face, "only one way to find out!" he said before running off, Riku and Kairi close on his tail.

The three reached the giant doors to the throne room and Donald slowly opened the door to peek inside.

"'Bout damn time you got here!" the voice from inside shouted when the door cracked open.

Donald, in a slight surprise and thinking he was caught opened the door fully to get a look inside the room, Riku and Kairi looking over him.

The room was as large and empty as it always was, the only person inside was all the way by the throne, the king had yet to arrive.

"How did he see us from there?" Kairi asked as she squinted to see the man at the throne.

The three started into the room towards the man, as he started for them, meeting halfway. "Sorry, we're not the king," Riku said once they got close.

"I know, I could see that when he cracked the door open," the man said gesturing at Donald.

The man was slightly taller than Riku and dressed for anything. He had brown boots, blue denim pants and a sleeveless blank white shirt under his open vest. His eyes were blue and hair an unruly brown. Something small was following him and it wasn't until they got close that Riku recognized it.

"Heartless!" he shouted as Way to the Dawn appeared in his hand and he took a fighting stance.

Everyone else stopped, Kairi calling Destinies Promise and taking a stance along side Riku, Donald also assuming a battle stance. The man froze and hunched slightly, looking around, almost as if mimicking a Shadow heartless. The little thing following the man did the same as him.

"Where, where's the heartless kid?" the man asked as he looked around.

"There, right behind you there's a Shadow," Riku said pointing with his keyblade.

The man looked behind him, sighed and relaxed his position, returning to standing upright, the little thing doing the same, also standing upright. "Yeah, my shadow's behind me, and you got one in front of you," the man said pointing the Riku's shadow on the floor.

"That's your shadow?" Kairi asked looking at the little thing.

It looked almost identical to a shadow heartless, except it had not antenna, and stood upright. "Yeah, it doesn't like being flat all the time so when I get the chance I let it out," the man said looking back at the shadow.

"What are you all doing here?" a voice called from the door.

Everyone turned to see King Mickey walking towards the group. Riku and Kairi both sent their keyblades away at the same time when they saw the king. "You're Majesty, we…uh… were…" Donald stuttered.

"We wanted to see who you were meeting with, incase they would know anything about what's going on," Riku said stopping Donald's ramblings.

"I'm not sure who he is or what he knows, but he made an appointment to meet with me," Mickey said walking around Riku to get closer to the man. Upon seeing the shadow Mickey's keyblade appeared in his had and he jumped at it. He was stopped moments before impact by his keyblade hitting an unintended object. The man had spun around so his back was to the others, is right arm extended outwards and blocking Mickey's attack.

"Why is everyone against Spitfire?" the man asked once Mickey's feet hit the ground.

"Who?" Donald asked.

"Is that its name?" Kairi asked pointing at the shadow.

"Yeah," the man said turning to face everyone again, "and he's not a heartless, he's my shadow," he said looking at all of them.

Mickey apologized as his keyblade vanished before getting to more important matters, "If you three could excuse us, we have an appointment," Mickey said gesturing at the man.

"No, it's fine, they should probably hear this too," the man said pointing at Riku and Kairi, "The Keymaster should also, but he's otherwise occupied, isn't he?" he said waving his right hand and in a flash of light almost identical to a keyblade's a redwood cane appeared in his had. He tapped the cane once on the floor and a chair popped out of the ground behind him.

The man sat down, Spitfire hopping up to sit on the headrest. "Well, have a seat," the man said tapping the cane once more, a chair appearing behind Riku, Kairi and Mickey. The three sat down as Mickey told Donald to check on Goofy and see how things were going, and to seal the throne room as he left.

As Donald walked away Riku turned to the man, "so, who are you?" he asked bluntly.

"Yes, and what is it you came here to see me about?" Mickey added leaning forward in his chair.

The man grinned, "My name is Seig. My intention was to tell the Keymaster and his spare keys of the current situation, but the Keymaster is unavailable. I am here because a very reliable source informed me that you would be a useful ally in the days to come." The man said smiling.

"So what's going on?" Kairi asked leaning forward.

"Who's your source?" Mickey asked.

"Who are you really?" Riku asked with a smirk.

Both Mickey and Kairi looked at Riku, "You don't believe him?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah I do, but he's hiding something. There's something familiar about the way he moves, the way he acts," Riku said, at this Mickey and Kairi looked at Seig again, a confused look on Kairi's face.

Seig's smile never faded as he pointed to Riku, "Riku," he pointed at Kairi, "you're Kairi," and he pointed at Mickey, "and you're, of course, King Mickey, right?" he asked, all three nodded. "Well, my source is a very close friend of yours Mickey, Yen Sid," Seig said his smile returning to a straight face.

"Yen Sid?" Mickey asked somewhat surprised.

"Yes, I've know him a long time. Longer than you have actually. In fact, I've know him longer than you have, before you met him, probably even before you were born," Seig said tilting his head back as if recalling long past days.

"What about what's going on?" Kairi asked.

"Well, the simplest way to put it is the door to the darkness is no longer sealed," Seig said his eyes falling on Kairi, "and at some near point you are going to be in a large sum of danger."

"Me? Or everyone?" Kairi asked leaning back slightly intimidated.

"You," Seig said pointing at Kairi.

"Why?" Riku demanded leaning forward.

"Because of whom she is. Because of what she is. Because the doors of darkness have not opened, if they were opened I would already have closed them. The doors to the darkness have been taken down, removed and destroyed," Seig said looking at Riku, his finger still pointed at Kairi.

"Who I am and what I am, are you taking about me being a spare key or a Princess of Heart?" Kairi asked.

"Both. And neither. You are unique because you are the first Princess of Heart to have a true keyblade. Bu also your relations to people single you out. Relations I am not at liberty to converse, at least, not yet," Seig said somewhat uncomfortably.

"Who has the power to destroy the doors to the darkness?" Mickey asked.

"How do we fix it?" Riku demanded.

"We can't fix it. Well, not in the way that you're thinking. And I honestly don't know who did it. I only know of five individuals able to do such a thing, three are dead and two would rather die than do it," Seig said looking at Mickey and Riku, he seemed almost glad to be off the topic of Kairi.

"If we can't fix it what do we do?" Kairi asked.

"Well, the best thing we could do is get the rest of the keyblades before the dark beings, but if they don't have all six by now, they will soon. From there it's simply a matter of tying up all the loose ends and cutting their legs from under them," Seig said folding his hands.

"How do we do that?" Riku asked.

"I have two people already on it and I'm here to recruit more," Seig said looking at the three of them; he seemed relieved to be out of the question and answer section and into his reason for coming.

"What do you need?" Riku and Kairi asked in near unison.

"I'll give the aid I can," Mickey added nodding.

"Your tasks will be separate, I have more than one job left that needs doing, I also do not want those on separate jobs knowing of the other's tasks, incase something goes wrong," Seig said rising to his feet, Mickey and Riku following suit, Kairi stayed seated.

"But what are we doing?" Kairi asked from her seat.

"I'll tell you once I've spoken to the Mickey," Seig said tapping his staff on the ground and the chairs he, Riku and Mickey were sitting in vanished.

Kairi stood up and her chair vanished too, "We'll be waiting outside," Riku said taking Kairi's arm and guiding her out. He knew full well Kairi wouldn't want to be excluded, and that she would stay there stubbornly.

The two left the throne room and Riku shut the door behind them. "What do you think he'll have us do?" Kairi asked sitting on the floor across from the doors.

"No idea, part of it's probably to keep an eye on you so you stay safe, but I doubt that's all of it," Riku said leaning against the doors but not over the smaller door that opens.

Kairi sat in irritated silence; it caught Riku off guard at first, Kairi being impatient and stubborn. But then he remembered what she wore around her neck and realized it was Sora's influence. Since that revelation all those years ago before he left, every time he saw Kairi like that he couldn't help but remember his friend. But now the memory of his friend brought about the bloody charm the dark being left him.

Riku was so lost in his thoughts he didn't notice the throne door opening and Mickey and Seig walking out. "You two ready for you mission?" Seig asked as Mickey waved goodbye to them and walked away to get started on his task.

Kairi stood up eagerly with a nod, while Riku pushed himself off the door, "in a second. First, you haven't answered my question," he said looking at Seig.

"And what question is that?" Seig asked looking at Riku.

"The one I asked earlier. You dodged answering it before. So who are you really?" Riku asked.

Seig looked at Riku a moment, "it was my mannerisms, how I moved and spoke that seem familiar to you, right?" Riku nodded, "then it'll be an easy answer. You knew my son, he probably got some of his mannerisms from me," Seig said before looking at Kairi, "you ready for your part?"

Kairi grinned, "Let's do it!" she said eagerly.

"Are we checking on worlds, seeing if they're unlocked or not?" Riku asked absently, he was trying to figure out who Seig's son is.

"No, others are covering that front. You two are going to be taking the main front. I want you to go to the Omegas, let them know what's going on and get their help if you can. You two are going inside," Seig said looking between the two of them as he spoke.

"Inside? Inside where?" Kairi asked glancing at Riku who looked agitated.

"The dark realm. You're sending us into the dark realm," Riku said glaring at Seig.

"I know you two can handle it. Your task is to go in, find out what kind of forces the enemy has, and how many big names, how many heavy hitters there are. Don't go in intent on taking them out, but if it comes to it, do what you need to get back to the Omega castle," Seig said looking at Riku.

"You just said Kairi was in danger, and you're going to send her into the place where those after her are? Do you have any idea how stupid that is?" Riku demanded.

"She'll be fine. She can fight, and you'll be with her to protect her, if need be," Seig said wit ha grin, "now, if you have no further questions, I'm late for a meeting," he said before vanishing.

Riku cursed under his breath and looked at Kairi, "you ready then?" Kairi nodded and the two headed back to the gummi ship.


	3. Filling out the Teams

**Chapter 3: Filling out the Teams**

Stealth. Stealth was the key right now, death was guaranteed if a capture took place. Xah hurried into the building, certain he wasn't spotted, because he was still alive. His destination was a place of neutrality where, despite who he was and where he had just broken into, he would be immune to danger, standing on peaceable ground. Xah had just broken into the White Castle, the castle of the White King and Queen and every second he went without detection was a miracle. It took longer that expected to reach mental safety, the point where, even if he was caught, he'd make it to physical safety in time.

Xah was in the hall of the Cathedral, the neutral ground within the White Castle. By the time he reached that hall though, he knew he was spotted, and he moved faster, faster than he thought he could, given his present situation and condition. He heard the footsteps coming and sped up, preying he'd make it in time.

"How did you not notice it sooner?" Sakura demanded. She was running down the halls towards the Cathedral, slightly behind her ran a woman in half-plate armor, her blue skin showing through the gaps and her blue hair flowing behind her as she ran. Theirs were the footsteps Xah was hearing.

"He is of the darkness but not the shadows, he was already well within the castle before we could pinpoint him, only sensing a presence before that," the knight responded.

"What of the King?" Sakura asked as they reached the Cathedral hall.

"My counterpart went to get him as I came to get you," the knight responded.

Sakura nodded in approval and the rest of the run was made in silence. When they reached the Cathedral the doors were both open, a sign the intruder had made it that far. When they looked inside the knight gasped and covered her mouth, Sakura only stared at the sight with a determined face.

"Alert the King. He must be warned and the others notified," Sakura said without taking her eyes from the sight. When the knight didn't move she added "Now!" which jarred the knight into a response of bowing and running off.

Inside the Cathedral at the altar, Rock Breaker and Flare Bright were both inserted into the stone table. The knight did not fully know what this meant, but Sakura did, both keys were in the center of the top of the table, both sunk past the teeth, and they were in a line, the broad sides facing Sakura. Sitting on the steps of the altar, breathing heavily was Xah. Sakura's eyes narrowed on him and she started forward, but Xah gave a quick laugh, waved to Sakura, and vanished into a portal of darkness. Mission accomplished.

-XXX-

Riku landed the gummi ship just outside the Castle that Never Will Be and followed Kairi as they walked into the castle. Once inside they had trouble finding anyone, the Omegas lived here, but it was only the three of them left, the castle was very large, and neither Riku nor Kairi had gotten a tour of the place. They eventually found Bruxeus leaning against the wall in a random hallway.

"What're you two doing here?" he asked once they got closer to him.

"Looking four you guys," Kairi said.

"The legendary keyblades have shown up on this side of the dark doors," Riku added.

"We know. We know very well," Bruxeus said.

"What does that mean?" Riku asked.

"We know the keyblades are back, and what they're back to do," Bruxeus said pushing himself off the wall, "the others are in the Cathedral down the hall, they'll tell you what I mean," Bruxeus said pointing to a pair of double doors halfway down the hall.

Riku followed the point with his eyes, nodded at Bruxeus and started towards the doors with Kairi silently following him. They reached the doors together and looked inside to see a cathedral similar to the one in the White Castle; the only differences were the images in the stain-glass windows and the mural on the ceiling. The image on the ceiling was of a battle, Riku had a feeling it was the Doom's Wars while the images in the windows seemed to be past keybearers.

Vaxer and Xexox were up at the altar talking. Behind them was a stone table, and sticking out of it was Wolfsbane and Belladonna's Kiss positioned as Rock Breaker and Flare Bright were in the White Cathedral. Riku and Kairi started walking towards the two, both looking around and taking in their surroundings.

"Hey, can one of you go grab Bruxeus?" the sudden noise brought both Riku and Kairi back from sight seeing and they looked ahead to see Xexox standing and looking at them. Riku nodded to him after a moment and started back towards the door.

When he reached it and stepped out towards Bruxeus he saw a man standing with him Riku only got a quick look at the man before he teleported away in a white light. All Riku could tell was that the man was bald and had a large, long white beard and wore a dark green cloak. When the man vanished Bruxeus turned towards Riku and started walking towards him, "I'm guessing Xexox got tired of waiting and sent you to get me," he said as he walked.

Riku nodded, "yeah, who was that though?" he asked pointing at where the man was before vanishing.

"Messenger from the White King. This is as bad as I feared," Bruxeus said reaching Riku and walking past him into the cathedral, Riku right behind him.

"Any word?" Vaxer asked once Bruxeus and Riku reached the altar.

"Yes. It happened there too. Based on our estimates they happened at about the same time," Bruxeus said.

"So you were right then," Xexox said turning away from the others.

"Right about what, what's going on, what does the keyblades in the altar mean?" Kairi asked looking between the three Omegas.

"There are three castles, White, Black, and Grey. In each castle is a Cathedral, these Cathedrals are neutral grounds, enemies meeting there can talk about peace terms, or even argue something out without getting to violent terms," Vaxer said.

"Each Cathedral has an altar, and each altar serves as the lock, the legendary keyblades are the keys. That is how the legendary's determine their alignment, which castle they work in," Bruxeus continued.

"The Black Castle originally was on this world, but the Black King moved it to the Realm of Darkness. In doing that he almost guaranteed the only purpose the altars could be used for," Xexox said turning back to the others.

"How does that guarantee what the altars can be used for?" Riku asked.

"What can they be used for?" Kairi asked.

"The order the altars are unlocked determines what they can do. One set of keys in each castle so that an agreeance would have to be made to use them, but placed in neutral ground so the reasons and terms could be discussed at ease," Bruxeus said.

"I don't think that answers our questions," Riku said.

"For anyone not of the Dark Realm, that altar would need to be last, or else the keys could be removed before the task finished. And I know what you're going to say, we've already tried, the keys won't budge. Which is further proof that it happened at the same time, they sealed the keys to their tasks," Bruxeus said.

"But what can the keyblades be used for?" Kairi repeated.

"We don't know everything. We know that if the white altar is last it opens the realm of light," Xexox said sitting down, " but the realm of darkness already opens without the keys so-"

"That is enough information for now," a voice called from the doors of the Cathedral. All heads turned to see Sakura standing in the doorway, "at least, enough information and speculation as to where the keyblades lead," she added as she started towards the group.

"Your Highness, what are you doing here?" Kairi asked stepping towards Sakura.

"Some of our suspicions have been confirmed. And there is a task that I can only leave to you, Kairi, to complete," Sakura said as she walked down the aisle.

"Me?" Kairi asked shocked, the step she had just taken forward was now returned as she stepped back.

"Yes, I expect Riku to tag along and aid where he can, but the job that must be done, you are the only one I trust to get done," Sakura said as she reached the group, Xexox had returned to his feet when she started walking towards them.

A moment later the shock wore off and Kairi grinned gloatingly at Riku before giving Sakura her attention, "What is it you need me to do?"

"I don't know if we can do it though," Riku said before Sakura could speak.

"What?" Kairi demanded turning to Riku in slight anger.

"Why not?" Sakura asked confused.

"We already have a mission," Riku told Sakura, at which point Kairi's anger vanished as she remembered the task Seig gave them.

"Any mission Mickey gave you is probably less important than this," Bruxeus said from behind the two keywielders.

"It wasn't Mickey," Riku said glancing back at Bruxeus.

"Who then?" Vaxer asked before Riku finished talking.

"A man named Seig, we just met him yesterday when he gave us the mission," Kairi explained to Sakura, felling as if she was letting her down.

"Seig? Really? He's back?" Sakura asked as she looked up in thought, the index finger of her right hand going to her chin to complete the look.

"You know him?" Riku asked.

"If it's the same Seig. That was a long while ago, people don't live that long without power, power like Yen Sid or Merlin," Xexox said.

"Or you," Riku added.

"We're not people, you forget that," Xexox said with a straight face.

"There's one way to see if it is really him," Sakura said looking at Xexox before turning to Kairi, "What did he look like?"

"About Riku's height, he had blue pants and a white shirt with a black vest. His eyes were blue and his hair was brown," Kairi said shrugging at the averageness of the man.

"He also had that red cane he summoned out of nowhere," Riku added.

"What about Spitfire? Everyone forgets Spitfire," a voice called from the doorway. All heads turned to see Seig standing there, Spitfire at his ankle.

"That's him," Riku said nodding towards him but no one heard him over Sakura's explosive question.

"Seig, your back! Where were you?" Sakura nearly shouted when she saw him.

"You know me, I like to watch, let your younger generations define how their own lives are," Seig said walking towards the group.

"What are you doing here, you just sent us here, why didn't you just come with us if you had to come here?" Kairi asked.

"I'm not here for you, I need to speak with the White King and Queen, my original target was the White Castle, but its one piece short," Seig said gesturing at Sakura.

"I apologize, I have a job I need Kairi to do, once I tell her I will meet with you immediately," Sakura said bowing slightly.

Seig nodded and looked at Riku and Kairi, "do my job first, I'll take less time," he said before vanishing.

Kairi was standing there fuming, how dare he make the White Queen apologize to him! How dare he say the mission he gave was more important or should come before hers! How dare he!

"Kairi, calm down, your gunna pop a vein," Riku said putting a hand on her shoulder. After a moment she collected herself, apologized to Riku and Sakura and paid attention as the White Queen continued.

"It's alright, I'm sure his job will be much quicker. You see, I want you to get someone to help us in this fight, and in all this chaos we have no idea where he is, or, sadly, if he's even alive," Sakura said looking straight at Kairi.

"Who do I have to find?" Kairi asked eagerly.

Sakura just looked at her a moment, then her eyes flicked to Riku before returning to Kairi as she answered, "Sora."

-XXX-

Deep in the darkness, within the castle of the Black King, a castle that no longer had a king; stood a Cathedral. Identical to the Cathedral in the White Castle, save the color and images. The stain glass windows portrayed images of the natural heartless, the mural on the ceiling merely depicted a meteorite as it hurled towards a planet, a planet destined for destruction.

Light was easy to come by in the Cathedral, it shone in through the windows, despite the void of illumination from their other side. In the altar of the Cathedral were Blackhowl and Soulripper sticking out of the table as the legendaries were in the other Cathedrals, but these two were parallel, they had yet to be turned in the lock. Siv and Xah were sitting in the pew of the front row, obviously waiting for something. A tan woman with leather armor sat a few seats down form Xah. Her hair was black and down her back while her eyes were pure black. She wasn't armed.

A man sat a few seats down from Siv completing the symmetry of the four. His skin was tan, though not as dark as the woman's or Xah's. He was the largest of the four, not as big as the one that came with Xah and Siv for the keyblades, but still larger than a normal man. He wore black combat boots, brown martial pants, white hand wraps and a black trench coat with the hood up. The coat was open so his bare chest was visible as was his chin with its short trimmed deep red beard. He wasn't armed.

After an unknown period of annoyed waiting the doors at the back of the Cathedral finally opened and in walked a being in a red cloak. It had white mad scientist gloves on, though the sleeves of the cloak were over the gloves, and the hood was up covering the face. When the door opened and the figure entered all four turned to look, Siv watched as the figure walked down the aisle towards them and the altar, the other three turned back to look forward.

The figure reached the end of the aisle and stood even with the first row of pews. "Siv, turn the keys," it said in a deep males voice.

"Why does he get to do it?" the large man asked as Siv stood up.

"Because he's teachers pet," the woman said.

"Jen you got to turn you keys, and Jak, you stand out too much, you would have been caught on the spot," the man said.

"By the way, the White Castle run? Not so much fun," Xah said raising his left hand as he made his point.

"Noted," the man said.

"I wasn't saying I wanted to do either of the castles, 'cause I didn't. But why can't I do those keys?" the large man asked pointing at the altar.

"Because Siv earned it Jak. Now the three of you stand up, we need a proper greeting," the man said.

The three stood and watched as Siv walked up to the altar and turned both keys in unison. There was a huge gust of wind from behind the altar and Siv jumped back to stand between Jak and the man. The wild wind quickly took form and shape, changing from a wild rampart wind to a spiral wind with the focal point just beyond the table and the wind blowing outwards towards the five observers.

Dark color soon joined the wind in its spiral and with a loud tearing sound the focal point of the spiral ripped open delivering a medium sized navy blue hole in space. Three figures could be seen on the other side of the hole and they easily climbed though the hole before it closed behind them and the spirals stopped.

All three of the beings were human and of average height and size, the one on the left being the only female. All of their skin also had a blue tinge to them, darker than normal blue. The girl wore a turquoise hooded vest that was zipped up over a black tee-shirt that went to her elbows. She had white shorts to just above her knees and brown shoes. The whites of her eyes were black and the irises were a light yellow. Her hair was a very light blue and went to just above her shoulders.

The one in the middle, a boy, was the tallest and most imposing looking of the three. He wore a black vest with red highlights over a plain white sleeveless shirt. His denim pants were black and his boots were light grey. He wore a black fingerless glove on his right hand that went halfway up to his elbow. The whites of his eyes were black and the irises were dark red. His hair was dark grey and went past his shoulders.

The third, also a boy, wore black shorts just past his knees, red shoes, a sliver closed vest and a black short sleeve hooded jacked over the vest. He had white fingerless gloves on, the left glove having blue markings and the right having red. His hair was a short spiky sky blue and his eyes matched the girls, only the yellow of his was a little deeper.

"This is them?" Jen asked in slight disappointment.

"Only the three?" Xah commented.

"We only have the power for three as of now. We need them to get the rest," the man said.

"I imagined them to be, I don't know, stronger," Jak said in a tone that matched Jen's.

"They are. They lead the arm of their realm, the army of the Nanos," the man said with chaotic joy in his voice.

"Just the three lead an army?" Jen asked looking at the man.

"Two," the man said at almost the moment the spiky-haired boy vaulted over the table and observers and ran full out from the Cathedral.

"What the hell?" Jak yelled turning to watch the boy run.

"Jak, if you're still upset about the keys, take it out on the boy, we don't really need his body anymore," the man said as he walked towards the remaining two blue skinned newcomers.

Jak gave a laugh before starting after the boy. "Anymore? What did you need it for in the first place?" Xah asked.

"We cannot come alone, it must be we three together, or not at all," the blue boy said.

"So the blue kids can talk," Xah muttered to Jen.

"Mind telling us you names," Jen asked walking towards the two.

"It's Thal," the girl said narrowing her eyes at Jen.

"Thalassa," the man corrected.

"No, to you all it's Thal," Thal said sternly looking at the man.

"And I'm Edofos. But Fos is easier," the boy said.

"Yes. You may call me Sol, and these are my companions," the man said placing his hand on his chest when he said his own name and gesturing to the others at the mention of his companions.

-XXX-

Jak laughed as he ran through the castle. He had only just lost sight of the boy, and had a good guess on where he was going. What Jak didn't know, and didn't care to know, is how the boy knew his way around the castle. The boy was currently headed to the main doors of the building, he was no doubt unaware that outside the castle was pure dark, and that there was no way out once there.

Unfortunately for Jak, he was following to far behind to notice when the boy veered from this course and took another one, and so Jak reached the gates of the castle and the boy was gone. Meanwhile in the courtyard of the castle the boy was looking at the portal out of the dark realm undecidedly. He wanted to go though, but he wanted to destroy it just as much, the only problem was that he didn't know if it would stay broken, they were able to open it before, and they did it without the keyblades. The boy finally decided to go through, his decision taking nearly too much time as Jak entered to courtyard in time to see the boy go through the portal.

Jak was not looking forward to conveying this information; it meant he would miss out on more action until Sol was no longer upset. He was tempted to go through the portal, but he knew Sol would notice then Jak would have no ground to stand on.

The boy landed in a place he didn't know on a world he didn't know. He wasn't used to the way things looked, everything was different from what he knew, but he had a target, and somehow he knew how to get there, what way he had to go. With a glance back to make sure Jak wasn't following the boy took off running, reaching his target the only thought in mind.

-XXX-

Kairi sat on the outer wall of the Grey Castle looking out at the vastness of nothing. She was rather irritated with herself, she had two jobs to do, find out how many high grade enemies they had to face and find Sora. One she didn't want to do because she didn't like who gave her the mission, the other because she hated who she had to find.

Riku said that you don't always like the job you have to do, but you always have to do it. This got Kairi mad at him to, and now he stood on the wall, leaning against the rise along the inside. The Omega's were in the courtyard below talking with Seig who had returned from his conversation with the White King and Queen. Kairi was still wondering why he sent them here if he was planning on talking to them himself but was too angry to ask anything.

The two just stayed there quietly, Kairi to angry to say or do anything, Riku fully aware that they were wasting time. They needed to find a way into the dark realm so they could get their job done. Neither one noticed someone approaching them, only realizing it when they arrived and stopped, even though both were facing the direction he came from.

Standing on the rise of the wall, standing right next to Kairi, she sitting on a lower part of the rise while he stood on the upper, was the blue boy from the portal. Both Riku and Kairi reacted at the same time, Kairi letting out of yelp of surprise as she tumbled back off the rise and onto the wall while Riku moved forward and drew his sword. Kairi was quick to her feet and her keyblade quicker to her hand while the boy just looked at the two of them.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Riku demanded ready for anything.

"Who? What are you?" Kairi corrected.

"Ah, there you are!" a voice called out from behind the two.

Riku glanced back to see Seig and the Omega's jumping up onto the wall, Seig was the one who spoke. "You know him?" he asked.

"See, this is further proof, its actually concrete proof, that all the keys have been turned," Seig continued ignoring Riku.

"Then why can't we take out the keys, why are they still stuck?" Bruxeus asked as the four of them walked towards Riku and the others.

"Because the final keys that were inserted have not been removed, so they lock in the previous keys," Xexox said with a sigh.

"Seig, do you know him?" Riku repeated as he gestured the boy with his blade.

"Yes, that's Oyranos, if I'm not mistaken he's here to help out," Seig said confidently and he leaned on his cane, his shadow properly in place.


	4. New Allies

**Chapter 4: Newest Allies**

"You can just call me Anos, everyone else does," the blue boy said hopping off the rise in the wall.

"Everyone?" Kairi asked not dropping her ready stance.

"From back home. The, uh, place on the other side of the portal…" Anos said pointing back the way he came.

"What portal?" Riku asked relaxing his stance and sheathing his sword.

"The one to the Nanos realm. And with the arrival of Anos here your task for me is done Kairi, thank you for finding him," Seig said bowing to Kairi and gesturing to Anos.

"You didn't tell me to find him," Kairi said turning to face Seig and jabbing a thumb at Anos.

"No, but he has the information I asked you to gather," Seig said raising a finger to point out the fact.

"If you knew he was coming, why did you ask us to do the job?" Riku asked turning on Seig too.

"I didn't know when he would get here. I only have most of the info, not all. If I had all of it I wouldn't need others out there doing things for me, I would do it myself, before it would happen," Seig said shrugging.

"Can you tell us everything you know?" Kairi asked hopefully.

"I could, but that would change thing, and then I wouldn't know everything, meaning what I told you would have changed, meaning none of us would know. That's bad for us, cause then we'd probably lose," Seig said hopping up to sit on the high ledge of the wall, his cane vanishing in mid air.

"I don't think I caught that…" Kairi said looking at Riku.

"Me either," Riku said looking back at Anos, "So what's your story?"

"In a minute, first I need to know what we're up against," Seig said leaning towards Anos.

"Up against? You mean the people who opened the portal? I don't know any of their names but there were five of them. One big guy, a woman, two other guys and someone in a cloak, but by his voice I can guess it was another guy. Add them to Edafos and Thalassa and you got seven high powers. They'll be bringing the army across any day now too," Anos said using his fingers to count off the enemies as he listed them.

"The two normal guys and the big one were probably the ones who we saw," Riku said to Kairi.

"And one of the normal guys is who did the keys in here, according to Sakura the other got her Cathedral," Vaxer said rubbing his chin in thought, "if the cloaked man was the one to talk I think we can safely assume he's in charge."

"He did seem that way before I ran," Anos said nodding.

"Sorry, maybe I'm missing something, but who are Edafos and Thalassa? And how did you get out of there?" Kairi asked looking intently at Anos.

"I got out because I ran and was lucky that in the courtyard of the castle there was a portal to this world," Anos said pointing behind where he came from.

"Yes, I figured it was reopened, they apparently moved where it opened to in the castle though," Xexox said.

"As for Edafos and Thalassa, or Fos and Thal as they liked to be called, they're my two companions. We came through the portal together. The two of them lead the army of Nanos, and rule the realm," Anos said sitting on the ledge of the wall.

"And you?" Riku asked.

"I'm their counterpart. Their third wheel. I know them really well, but I never wanted to lead the realm, I just wanted the death and mindless destruction to stop. The three of us worked together and pulled it off, but now its worse. They just wanted to be in charge, they didn't want to change anything. Recently I've been trying to get a resistance together again, but its not going to well, and they've caught on," Anos said looking down in defeat.

"Don't worry kid, it'll all be okay," Seig said with a grin and he stood back up.

Anos looked at him, "how do you know?"

"Because, what we have to do, what the end result of all of this is, if it doesn't solve the problems of your realm, it'll show you exactly how to do it, and give you the tools you'll need," Seig said leaning against the ledge.

Anos hopped to his feet, "Really?"

"Trust me kid. I said I know how some of this turns out," Seig said smartly.

"Great, let's do this then!" Anos said jumping up in elation.

"Kairi, Riku, I think Anos should help you two out on Sakura's job," Bruxeus said watching the boy jump in the air.

"What?" Kairi demanded.

"Where we're going, we could probably use the help," Riku said looking at Anos as he stopped jumping and looked at Kairi.

"Riku's right, the Omega's have work here that he can't help in, and I'm needed elsewhere," Seig said.

"What are we doing?" Anos asked looking at Riku.

"Finding our friend, he was sealed in the Dark Realm a few years ago," Riku said.

"Well, I know where the portal is, and can probably get us through the castle…" Anos said looking the way he came from, where the portal was.

"Can you see in the dark?" Xexox asked looking at Anos.

"Yes, my home realm is nearly perpetual darkness. But the light it sometimes has is brighter than this, so your realm proves no bother to me," Anos said looking at the sky.

"Then you won't need one of these," Bruxeus said holding up a pair of goggles as Vaxer tossed one each to Riku and Kairi.

"They'll give you night vision, or should," Vaxer said as he handed them over.

"Luckily you won't need to use the castle to get in, but I can't provide any aid in getting you out," Seig said as a black portal appeared beside him. "It'll take you close to the castle, so you can find landmarks that may be useful to you."

The three nodded their understanding, Riku and Kairi putting their goggles on and following Anos through the portal. It closed behind them.

"How'd you manage that?" Xexox asked nodding towards where the portal was.

"Things I have set in motion have not completed yet," Seig said before vanishing.

"What did that mean?" Bruxeus asked looking between the other two.

"I don't know, he almost never tells anyone anything. As much as we got out of him just today is more than we have on all the other events that brought him out of hiding put together," Xexox said folding his arms.

"Wonder if that means this is that much worse," Vaxer said thoughtfully.

"All in all, I'm glad we're not neutral anymore, it feels good to take a side for once," Bruxeus said before vanishing from the wall.

"Would it be the same if we never were neutral?" Vaxer asked.

"No. But that's why we did it this way. You know what we're trying to do, and what it means if we pull it off," Xexox said glancing back at the castle before turning to face out into the emptiness.

"Guess it was good we listened to him a few years ago then," Vaxer said before vanishing.

Xexox smirked, "yes it was," he muttered before vanishing as well.

-XXX-

A black walled room in a black castle. The light that was given off at the ceiling showed the room to be a study, and the purpose of the light was evidently for reading. Bookshelves lined one wall, and half of the wall opposite it. Next to the shelves that lined half the wall was a three person couch. At the end of the room opposite the door and couch sat a desk that faced the rest of the room; the only window was behind the desk. The desk was closer to the wall on its left, and between it and the wall on its right was a small round table, four chairs were stationed around the table. Two, more comfortable chairs, were before the desk, facing the window.

Thal and Fos sat in these chairs talking quietly to each other. Sol sat on the windowsill looking at the room, mainly the door. Jen and Xah sat on the couch, at opposite ends. Jen was watching everyone in the room; Xah was using a small knife to play tic-tac-toe with himself on the armrest of the couch. Siv sat in one of the four chairs around the small table, his feet on the table and body leaned back as he slept.

Jak walked in the room loudly, shoving the door shut behind him before grabbing one of the four chairs at the table, pulling towards the center of the room and sitting down, facing Sol. All eyes were on him from the moment of his entry except for Siv's which remained closed in his sleep.

"And?" Sol asked expectantly after it was apparent Jak wasn't going to talk first.

"Taken care of," Jak said simply.

"In what manor?" Sol asked standing up.

"Like you said, I removed his head. The only way to be sure he can't come back again," Jak said, his head turning towards Siv.

"And the body?" Sol asked.

"Alright!" Jak shouted standing up, "just 'cause the kid got away doesn't mean I forgot how to kill someone and burn the body. Especially someone helpless," Jak shouted at Sol.

"You blundered Jak! I don't care what it was on, if I asked you to get me two Shadows and you get me three, or if I ask you to kill a possible threat and he gets away. They're both mistakes and they weigh the same to me. They lower my trust in your capabilities," Sol shouted stepping around his desk and pointing at Jak. "It doesn't matter who or what you were before you got here, for any of you!" he added looking around the room, his gaze careful not to fall on Thal or Fos, "you're all here now because of me, and until I see the favor you owe me repaid, you will do what I ask, and do it how I ask. Is that clear?" Sol demanded.

"The kid ain't gunna be a problem. He was less than these two," Jak said gesturing at Thal and Fos, "we'll be fine. He only ran cause he knew he wouldn't win a fight, so when next we see him, one of us'll kill 'em," Jak said sternly, his eyes never left Sol as he looked down at the smaller man.

"Bravo Jak, you actually thought your mistake through," Sol said turning and walking back behind his desk.

Jak sat back down muttering something that no one quite caught. They all let it go. Jen was surprised Xah didn't speak up and fuel the fire, but maybe he realized it would have engulfed him as well.

"The four of you," Sol looked at his initial companions, at which point Siv took his feet of the table and sat up, looking at Sol, "are going to go cause chaos. I don't really care where, though I prefer you stick to kingdom realms, the others don't matter all that much. Don't destroy the planets and don't kill anything important," Sol said.

"How do we know what's important?" Xah asked.

"You'll have to figure it out on your own, but if you don't know, don't kill," Sol said simply, "I don't care how you divvy the worlds up, but leave Radiant Garden, Disney Castle, and the World of Kings alone. They pose a threat and we need the army to handle them appropriately."

"Exactly what kind of chaos are you looking for?" Jen asked.

"Make sure they know you're off worlders, and that you intend to take over. Do not mention any of your companions, including me; I would call it a bad idea to give your own name as well. And do not bring heartless or nobodies," Sol answered.

"What? But that's half the fun of this kinda stuff," Jak said leaning forward.

"And they can not control themselves in regards to who they kill. I also do not want it so widely know that the heartless are back, hence my lack of releasing them yet," Sol said crossing his arms.

"When do we leave?" Jen asked standing up.

"You three leave now, I have special instructions for Siv," Sol said lowering his arms and sitting on the window sill again.

"Big surprise there, teachers pet gets a special job. Why do you like the brat so much?" Xah asked as he and Jak stood up.

"Because I never had to save him like I had to save you three," Sol said sternly.

"Because he just wandered in here one day. Ever wonder how he managed to get here?" Jak asked sliding the chair back towards the table as he turned towards the door.

"I know how, and I know I can trust him," was all Sol said before the three had left the room.

Once the three were gone Thal stood and looked at Sol, "did you bring us here to watch you argue and give orders? We have wasted much time that we could have spent planning or organizing. You have yet to tell us even why we should aid you. All you have said is that you have a proposition for us."

"My apologies. I do not wish to go over the plan with my subordinates here, so once I send Siv on his way we can cover that. As for why you should aid me, when I am done I will rule the Realm of Light. All of it. And I will have no use for this part of the Realm of Darkness. It will be yours to use as you see fit. Also, as an added bonus, the thorn in your side Oyranos will be terminated by the end of my plans. Hopefully sooner," Sol said turning to the two Nanos as he spoke.

"We will discuss this," Fos said as Thal sat down and the two began whispering to each other again.

"Good," Sol said before turning back to Siv, "Now Siv, I have a very important mission for you…"

-XXX-

Riku, Kairi and Anos appeared a few feet from the gates of the black castle in the Realm of Darkness. Kairi and Riku were able to see only because of their goggles, though Anos' vision was still better, his being natural.

"Any idea which way to start looking in?" Kairi asked as they looked around.

"I don't think it matters. As long as we don't get lost," Riku said as he, too, looked around.

"We won't get lost, I feel a pull towards this castle, because of the portal to my home," Anos said looking straight ahead in the opposite direction of the castle.

"What's it like there?" Kairi asked as they started walking, all three looking for any sign of Sora, but needing something to pass the time.

"Similar to here. I mean your world. Only darker in the day and brighter at night," Anos said.

"You mean your day is darker than ours or your day is darker than your night?" Riku asked glancing at the boy who had taken the lead.

"Both. The light of our night is brighter than the light of your day, and the dark of our day is darker than the dark of you night," Anos said looking back.

"How can you tell? You've only been to our world for less than one day. And you haven't seen our night, or a really bright day," Kairi protested.

"There have been Nanos who have spent much time in your realm, it is from them that I make those claims, it's what they say," Anos answered easily and he changed the direction they were waling in, having found a path of sorts and deciding to take it.

"What's the army like? Are they like the heartless, or are they just your people or what?" Kairi asked after a while of silence.

"They aren't my people, they aren't any people. They're large war machines, when they march cities fall, when they attack countries crumble, when they rally entire peoples are lost to the ages, sometimes forgotten forever," Anos said looking down.

"So they kind of are like heartless, only, much more extreme," Kairi said watching Anos.

"Speaking of heartless, either of you notice that, despite being in their realm, we haven't seen a single one, or a nobody?" Riku said looking around.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Anos asked looking up at Riku.

There was a sound behind Riku, a sound somewhat familiar though he knew it instantly; it was the growling voice of the smallest of the men that visited Destiny Islands. "No, it isn't," was all it said as Siv walked into their view.

"Kairi, Anos, be ready, we don't know what he can do," Riku said as his hand went to his sword.

"Riku wait! He knew about him remember? We could use his help to find him," Kairi said grabbing Riku's arm.

"What?" Anos asked in complete confusion.

"We're looking for Sora. We ran into this guy before, and he had something of his, and said something that made is seem he might know where Sora was," Riku said glaring at Siv.

"I found it while wandering the darkness," Siv growled as he sized his opponents up.

"Why were you wandering the darkness?" Riku asked not dropping his guard.

"I am of the darkness. The first and only memories I have before finding the castle were wandering the darkness," Siv answered in his growl of a voice.

"Where did you find it?" Riku asked trying to hide his eagerness.

"You need not know," Siv growled back.

"All I want to know is if you found it on a body, or near a body or its remains," Riku clarified.

"Or if you already had it when you got your first memory," Kairi added quickly earning a shocked glance form Riku.

"No. I found it, but recognized it. And there was no remains near it," Siv responded taking a crouching stance.

Riku sighed realizing Siv wasn't going to talk any more and drew his sword. He charged and swung at Siv who ducked under the attack and rolled behind Riku drawing John's sword off Riku's back as he did. Riku spun swinging but Siv blocked the attack and kicked Riku in the face sending him back a few steps.

Siv dashed towards Anos and Kairi as soon as he made contact with Riku. Kairi called her keyblade to her hand as Anos moved forward to meet Siv. Anos had no weapon as he attacked Siv, and Siv easily knocked him out of his way. But the distraction was enough; Riku had recovered and was coming up behind Siv as Kairi was coming towards his front.

Siv jumped back towards Riku and swung wide, Riku easily blocking the attack. Siv then flattened himself to the floor and swung up cutting Riku's knee wide open before he could block it. Kairi arrived at them as Siv stood up and he was forced to block her attack as he kicked Riku's injured knee to take the warrior down.

As soon as Riku was kicked and had loudly voiced his pain Siv jumped up and over Kairi to land on her other side, out of Riku's greatly reduced reach. Anos was getting to his feet slowly and hold his bleeding face, where Siv's heel had broken his nose. Siv then unloaded his assault on Kairi, who faired just as well as Riku; blocking everything until Siv did a strange motion, against Kairi he faked a high swing and jumped back.

Kairi was thrown off by the feint and left open for Siv to get in close and cut her deep across the chest. Riku called her name as he forced himself to his feet; Anos was still in too much of a daze to do anything. As Kairi stumbled a step back in pain and shock Siv ran her through the abdomen and kicked her in the chest with both feet sending her into the darkness beyond Riku's vision.

Siv landed and looked at Riku, "said I had dibs," was all the grunted language conveyed before Siv vanished into the darkness.

"Anos, can you see, can you move yet?" Riku demanded, "I can't see Kairi and I think the heartless just came back!"


	5. All in Her Head

**Chapter 5: All in Her Head**

Kairi suddenly became aware of two voices arguing. One was male, the other female. The male voice was vaguely failure, but she couldn't place it. Kairi wasn't sure she'd ever heard the female voice before. When she heard the voices Kairi also became aware of where she was. She was lying on her back on a cold hard surface in darkness. Though, the darkness was only there because her eyes were shut, and they stung too much to open right now.

"…ours, you have no right!" the female voice was shouting.

"I have all the right! This is our place! She came here, to us, not to you!" retorted the male.

"But she shouldn't have! You, and this place, shouldn't be here. You belong somewhere else," the female voice said, and Kairi heard footsteps coming closer, as if the woman was walking away from the man.

"Has she ever come to you?" the man asked in a normal tone, his footsteps following the woman's.

"No," was all she said.

"This could work in our favor, it could help unlock your sister," the man said simply.

At these words Kairi remembered she was in the Dark Realm and last she remembered she, Riku, and Anos were fighting Siv. Under this realization she opened her eyes and sat bolt upright, letting out a startled, scared scream when she did. The darkness that had surrounded her with closed eyes was replaced by white. Everywhere she looked, she couldn't even see herself, seeing nothing with her hand before her face.

"You're awake!" the male voice said coming closer to her.

"Whose there?" Kairi demanded turning towards the sound, "just because your hiding doesn't mean I can't fight you," she said rising to her feet and facing the way the voice just came from and calling her keyblade.

"But, I'm right here…" the male said from where it was, in a slightly confused tone.

"I believe I've found the problem," it then said, in a much more confident tone and from right behind Kairi as she felt a hand upon her head.

The hand pulled the goggles off as Kairi spun around defensively. As the goggles came off her eyes vision instantly returned to Kairi which itself startled her into taking a few steps back. Standing right before Kairi was Sora, looking exactly as he did three years ago when they sealed the door. The only difference was he was wearing blue robe-like clothing and wore glasses. She also noticed a book under his right arm.

"Sora, I thought that voice was familiar," Kairi said dropping out of her stance but keeping her keyblade in hand.

"He's not Sora. Well, he is, kind of… and so am I, I guess," Sora's voice said in a thoughtful manor from behind Kairi, where she heard the exclaim of her being awake.

Kairi turned to see what was going on and saw Sora standing there in a thoughtful pose, hand rubbing chin. He looked just like the one in blue, only without the book and glasses, and he was dressed in silver clothes.

"What's going on here?" Kairi demanded backing away from the two Soras, "How are there two of you?"

"Calm down and I'll explain. You were in a fight with Siv. You got injured badly and were rendered unconscious. When something like that happens you enter your inner place and can visit your inner selves," the blue Sora said.

"My inner self is Sora? Oh great," Kairi said in slightly disgusted defeat as Destiny's Promise vanished and she plopped onto the ground.

"No, your inner selves are you. We are Sora's inner selves. Two of them," the blue Sora corrected.

Kairi looked up at him, "how did I get into Sora's inner place?"

"Your necklace, the one from Sora," the silver Sora said pointing at the crown necklace Kairi wore.

"We reside in there, the White King and Queen put us in there for safe keeping," the blue Sora added.

Kairi put her head in her hands, "it's to get him back right? We get him to wear the necklace and he turns back into Sora," she said quietly.

"Well, I must say, you catch on much faster than he does. I'd still be explaining the fact we were in the necklace and why we look like he did three years ago if it were him," the blue Sora said with a smirk and looking past Kairi.

"How many inner selves does Sora have? How many do I have?" Kairi asked standing up.

"Seven. Everyone has seven. I am Knowledge, and this is Friendship," the blue Sora said gesturing the silver Sora, "Sora has embraced all seven of his inner selves. I cannot tell you the names of the others because you have not embraced all of yours," Knowledge said.

"But I've embrace Knowledge and Friendship so you two can be here," Kairi finished looking around, Knowledge just nodded.

Kairi's eyes fell on the floor, the stained glass image of Cinderella against a blue background. "Sora's inner place is a pillar with the image of Cinderella?" she asked aloud.

"His inner place is actually eight pillars, one for each of his selves, and one for when he comes willingly. It's similar for everyone," Knowledge said following Kairi's gaze.

"So everyone has images of Cinderella in their heads?" she asked looking at Knowledge.

"No, not everyone has images. Sora is the keymaster, and so his pillars are the Princesses of Heart," Knowledge said.

"I'm guessing this one's yours then, being blue and all," Kairi said and Knowledge nodded. Suddenly she shuddered, "Oh god, the Princesses of Heart? That means I'm in here too," she said to herself, Knowledge nodding wasn't helpful. After a pause Kairi looked at Knowledge, "so who's on the eight pillar?"

"The White Queen," Friendship said confidently.

Both Kairi and Knowledge turned to look at him, Kairi having forgotten he was even there. "Friendship, I think you'd better get him, it might help speed things along," Knowledge said.

Friendship nodded and took off for the edge of the pillar at a run, launching himself off when he got to the edge and falling from sight. "'Speed things along'… oh crap! How long have I been here, are Riku and Anos okay?" Kairi demanded grabbing the front of Knowledge's robe in a near threatening manor.

"Don't worry; time doesn't pass the same in here as out there. It could feel like ten years here and when you go back you'll wake up and only have been out for a few minutes," Knowledge said reassuringly and taking Kairi's hands off him.

"So what do I do while I'm here then?" Kairi asked sitting on the ground again.

"Friendship is getting someone who is going to help, he's another of Sora's inner selves, and he might be able to get you ready to bring Sora back," Knowledge said.

"How do I get to my own inner place?" Kairi asked after a moment.

"Meditation. Its hard to find where the place is, and I don't know how to help you, but once you find it, even by accident, you can always return with practice," Knowledge said taking his book out and opening it to a page in the middle.

"What is that?" Kairi asked pointing to the book, it was a large tome bound in worn brown leather.

"Everything Sora should know. He doesn't know half of it, but it's everything he's had the chance to know, if he had asked the right people the right questions," Knowledge said as he turned a page.

"So everything you know, Sora should know?" Kairi asked.

"Correct. The same as with you and your Knowledge. Of course, most everything I know about the inner selves I only know because I am one, though everything that is in comparison to others inner selves I've learned from John," Knowledge said glancing over the edge of his book at Kairi.

"You mean when Sora's mind was in that pit?" Kairi asked watching him.

"Yes, John's mind was down there too, he was very informed," Knowledge said turning another page.

After another short silence the sound of feet landing heavily signaled the return of Friendship. Knowledge looked up and grinned as a second set of feet landed and Kairi turned to see who had come. The one walking behind Friendship was wearing a brown cloak with the hood up to block his face.

As the two walked towards them Kairi turned to Knowledge, "am I dieing?"

"No. if you were dieing you wouldn't be able to move. That's what happened to Sora when he almost died," Knowledge said closing his book and putting it under his arm again.

"Sora did die, remember? Sakura saved him," Kairi corrected as she stood up, Knowledge nodded his remembrance.

"Kairi, this is…another one of Sora's inner selves," Friendship said as they reached the two and he gestured towards the cloaked man.

"Why are you covered?" Kairi asked.

"Because I can't give you the help, you need to take it from me," the man said.

"And who are you?" Kairi asked tilting her head and raising an eyebrow.

"I am the inner self Sora embrace last. My counterpart in your inner place was embraced second, Friendship first," the man said.

"You can't tell her that!" a voice called from the edge of the platform off to the left, it was the woman's voice from before Kairi sat up.

"Who are you?" Kairi demanded. A grin spread across her face, "are you Sora's feminine side?"

"If he has a feminine side, you have a masculine side," Knowledge whispered in Kairi's ear but she ignored it.

Another being entered the platform, this one moving at an angered march towards the four. It was cloaked in brown with a hood over its face, thought the figure was vaguely feminine, and the voice it shouted confirmed this, "I have no part in Sora, and based on the inner parts of his I met, I'm glad for it. Friendship is the only one I can stand to be around."

Friendship beamed at this comment, taking it as a compliment of himself rather than the insult of everyone else that it really was.

"Then you're one of mine," Kairi said as the woman reached her.

"Yes. And this whole thing would have been solved and you back to where you belong by now if you had landed in your own inner place," the woman said in a very angered tone.

"But she didn't. You're lucky we don't throw you out for interfering. We're trying to help," the cloaked man said.

"I would think you a lot more kind and compassionate considering who you are," the woman said turning on the man.

"Excuse me, but I was only embraced for ten minutes before I was pulled from Sora's head. That and I had to be unfairly tough on the guy to get him to realize who I was so I could be embraced," the man said bitterly.

"She's not the same, you don't have to act like she's and idiot with her too," the woman said pointing a finger at Kairi. When she did the robe flicked back on the arm to reveal he black sleeve beneath.

"Of all the inner selves why were you chosen to watch and be sure we didn't go out of line?" Knowledge asked with his head in his hand.

"Because the others knew I'd stop you before you even got to the line let alone cross it," the woman answered.

"Excuse me, but could you answer two questions for me? Well, three really," Kairi asked catching the woman's attention.

"What?" the woman asked looking straight at Kairi.

"One; have I embraced you, two; who are you and, three; why is your voice so different from mine when their voice is exactly like Sora's?" Kairi asked raising a finger to count off each question.

The woman started to laugh at this before degrading her cloak; it vanished as it hit the ground. She had a black denim jacket with the torso part going just past the armpit, a black tank top and black mid-thigh shorts. Her shoes were black and she had black streaks in her red, shoulder length hair. There was a red heart on the back of her jacket. In all other regards she looked just like Kairi. "Yes, you have embraced me, my name is Anger."

"As to the last question, your own voice sounds different to you when you talk, she does sound just like you," Knowledge said.

"I think we've gotten a little off track here," Friendship said stopping both Kairi and Anger form shouting at Knowledge.

"Right, thank you Friendship. Anger, if you would be so kind as to leave us be and continue with helping Kairi," the man said looking at Anger and gesturing Kairi.

"I'll be watching, you can't tell her anything about us, she has to learn about her other selves from her other selves," Anger said putting her finger right in the man's face.

"I've already told her everything about you I planed to. You're the one who gave her more information," the man said pushing the hand out of his face.

Anger huffed and stormed off, back to where she was watching from, the others watched her go.

"Okay then… so I have embraced your counterpart, meaning you have no restrictions on telling me your name. Then what's the problem?" Kairi asked turning back to look at the man.

"There is a seal on your heart, on your mind. My counterpart has been locked from you by external forces. I am here to help you break that lock, but the work must be your own," the man said.

"So I have to somehow get you to tell me your name, without you realizing it?" Kairi asked.

The man put his head in his hand, "what were the rules on the lock again?"

Kairi raised an eyebrow in confusion until she heard Knowledge open his book and begin to speak, "well, the one that was outright said, which I can't say in present company," he said looking at Kairi before he looked down at his book. "okay, the gist is, it can't be broken, except by the one who put it there, whom we don't have access to, the one who it's in regards to, whom I'm pretty sure we don't have access to, or the one it was placed upon, which is Kairi," Knowledge said looking up at the man.

"Nothing else?" he asked in hopeful tone.

"Well, there is that possible loophole I mentioned before," Knowledge said closing his book.

"You know how I feel about that," the man said sternly.

"Yeah, I do. Which is why I'm surprised you haven't exploited it yet," Knowledge said folding his arms.

"I consider it theft," the man said looking down.

"Oh my god; it's you! How is that theft?" Knowledge exclaimed throwing his hands towards the man.

Kairi was silent through this whole exchange, and wasn't even paying attention, her thoughts were on what Knowledge said about the gist of things and what the man said when he first got here, "wait," she said slowly, the other three all looking at her quietly, "you said who it's in regards to. How can one of my aspects not be me? I mean, Friendship is kindness towards others, right? I may need a friend to first embrace her, but there's no one specific."

"Right," Friendship said confirming Kairi was right about him.

"Then what aspect of me could rely solely on someone else?" Kairi asked looking between the man and Knowledge.

"That's what we're here to help you figure out, but you need to do that for yourself," the man said.

"Right, you said that, you also said I needed to take from you," Kairi said as she launched herself at the man.

He managed to catch and stop her before she knocked him over, but his hood was still knocked down revealing his hair identical to Friendships, and his face, just like Sora's. But there was something different about it, something about his face that was different form Friendship's or Knowledge's, something different from all her memories of Sora… something in his eyes.

Kairi was staring at him for a long time, she didn't even realize it when Friendship took her arm and pulled her away from him, out of his personal space. "What is it about you?" she finally asked.

Knowledge just laughed, "if I had known it would be this easy I wouldn't have said to bring the cloak."

"That's what you have to figure out on you own," the man said and as he said it Kairi saw the look in his eyes when he spoke to here, the way he looked at her, it was different from how other people look at her, and speak to her, even different form Knowledge and Friendship.

"It's you then," she said quietly to herself. Before turning at starting for the edge of the platform, "Anger, tell the others I've figured it out, and I want to visit them soon, if they could lend a hand on your end," she said as she walked.

"Where are you going?" Friendship called after Kairi.

"I have to get him back, because the White Queen asked me, because he should have his inner place and selves back, and because I want to have him back," Kairi said as she stopped at the edge of the platform.

"Be careful, you don't want to fall," the man said in a worried tone.

"Don't worry I think I know what I'm doing, I'll be fine," Kairi said with a smirk and a wink before jumping and back-flipping off the edge of the platform.

"When did you tell her that's how she would get out of here?" Friendship asked.

"I didn't, I think she was just hoping it would work," Knowledge said before looking over to where Anger watched, "she does have Courage right, I mean, if not I'd not want to face her after she does embrace it," he said before looking back at where Kairi jumped.

"Yes, she has embraced Courage," Anger said appearing and walking towards the three men. "She has all of us except Honor, and I don't know how she'll get that one. I was the last by the way," she added as an after thought as she reached them.

"Why don't you know how she'll get Honor?" Friendship asked.

"Have you met Honor? Maybe yours isn't, but my version is an uptight snob," Anger complained.

"No she isn't, that's just how you see her. Our Anger sees our Honor the same way," Knowledge said looking at Anger as she made violent hand motions.

"Anger stuck her tongue out at Knowledge before waving goodbye to Friendship and running off the edge of the platform.

"That could have gone worse," the man said.

"She wouldn't have started a fight here, she's smart enough to know any debate with me would make her want to hit me, and any physical fight here would end badly for her if the others stepped it," Knowledge said looking at where Anger had vanished.

"What?" the man asked looking at Knowledge finally taking his eyes off where Kairi had vanished, his mind seeming to move at the pace of his eyes, "What are you talking about, I meant with Kairi."

"Oh come off it Love, you almost kissed her, that would have done it instantly, I'm sure of it," Knowledge said looking back at him.

"That's how it would have been worse, her first kiss doesn't belong to me," Love said as he turned and ran off the edge of the platform in the other direction from Kairi.

"Does he not realize he is Sora, meaning it does?" Knowledge asked looking at Friendship.

"Don't look at me, you're the smart one. I just tagged along cause I could," Friendship said with a grin before he hugged Knowledge rather awkwardly and ran off the edge of the platform.


	6. Army of the Nanos

**Chapter 6: Army of the Nanos**

Kairi was falling, and fast. Blackness completely surrounded her as she plummeted headfirst through Sora's mindscape. After a few moments she feared something was wrong, 'was it supposed to take this long? Was there a door I had to go through? How _exactly_ do I get out of here?'

As she fell her body turned in the air, or more precisely the air turned around her. She was still moving headfirst through the air, and blackness was still all around her but gravity has shifted from ahead of her to behind her back. An instant after the gravity shift agonizing pain slammed into her chest and seconds later Kairi landed hard on her back.

She lifted her head to look down at herself and could see the cut on her chest; she could also see the end of the fight between Riku and Siv. Keeping her head elevated was too much work right now so she let if fall back to the ground and just looked up at the nothingness trying to ignore the pain in her chest. Kairi heard Riku calling to Anos saying Siv was gone and the heartless were back, she tried to speak but her lungs protested anything beyond short breaths.

"Yes, they're back. I can see Kairi, she's hurt but still moving," Anos said as he moved over to Riku.

"Hand me that sword, I'll take care of them then we can help Kairi," Riku said trying to stand up and pointing at John's sword which lay where Siv had dropped it.

Anos handed Riku the blade," I'll take care of Kairi," he said before running over to the girl.

Riku wasn't sure what Anos could do alone. It looked like Siv got Kairi pretty bad, Riku figured it would take both of them casting heal spells to help her. Riku pushed these thoughts from his mind as he took the sheath for John's blade off his back. He sheathed the sword then waited a moment before drawing the blade slightly as John had done three years ago. The blade shot out a bright light and when the light was gone so were all the heartless.

Riku returned the blade to its place on his back and picked up his other sword and sheathing it before hobbling over to Kairi. He had only made it a few wobbly steps when he saw her sit up and look at Anos who was crouched at her side.

"Thanks," Kairi said looking down at herself then at Anos. "But what about yourself?" she asked immediately upon seeing the blood that covered his face.

"I'm fine, I already sealed the wound," he said waving off her worry.

Moments later Riku appeared standing in a painful way at Kairi's feet. His hand was outstretched towards her and John's coat was in his hand. Kairi raised an eyebrow and looked at Riku's face for some kind of clue, only to fine him looking straight ahead. Kairi turned her gaze to Anos who was looking right back at her, his eyes focused on her face.

That's when Kairi looked down and noticed that both wounds cut her cloths as much as her skin. The stab wasn't anything to worry about in that department but the cut was across her chest. Kairi instantly EEPed throwing one arm across her chest and grabbing the offered coat with the other. She put it on as she stood up fastened the top three buttons.

"Thanks," was all she said to either of them.

Riku nodded and looked at Anos, "you're a healer, aren't you?"

Anos nodded as he moved next to Riku and put his hands over his knee, "yes, I thought you knew that."

"No, we didn't," Kairi said watching Riku's knee seal itself up.

"How would we have known?" Riku asked once Anos stood up.

"That man, Seig, he seemed to know everything about me. I thought he would have told you," Anos said shrugging.

"I guess that makes sense…" Kairi said thoughtfully.

"So you can't fight then, right?" Riku asked testing out his newly healed knee.

"Not effectively, no," Anos said scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Where did Siv go?" Kairi asked looking around.

"He ran off after hitting you," Riku said giving their surrounding a once over too.

"Which way?" Kairi asked looking back at Riku.

"Why? You want to avoid him? We will have to face him eventually," Anos said crossing his arms.

"Yeah, but we're in his element here, the advantage he has is substantial," Riku said looking at Anos, "and I was more worried about you to see which way he went," he added looking back at Kairi.

"Damn. We have to find him," Kairi said as she started walking into the darkness.

"Why?" demanded Anos as he and Riku caught up with Kairi.

"He knows where Sora is. And I know how to get Sora out," Kairi said determined.

"Where are you going," Riku asked grabbing her arm and spinning Kairi around.

"The Black Castle. He said he stayed there remember?" Kairi asked with a smirk on her face.

"That's also where Thal, Fos and the others are," Anos said a bit too loudly.

"How do you know we have to find Siv?" Riku asked.

"Or that he'll help us get Sora back once we do find him?" Anos added.

"I know we'll get Sora once we find Siv, I have an idea that I'm sure'll work," Kairi said looking at Anos.

"That doesn't answer my question," Riku said calmly.

"I don't think we have time for me to explain now, but I know we need to find Siv," Kairi said confidently.

There was a moment of silence before Anos spoke, "Riku, that thing you did with the sword and the light, how long does it hold the heartless back for?"

"It kills the ones in the immediate area," Riku said looking at Anos confused by the sudden change in topic, "why?"

"Because they should be back by now then," Anos said looking around at the empty darkness.

Riku and Kairi did the same, both just noticing the lack of heartless. "Maybe the range is bigger than you thought," Kairi offered hopefully.

"No, Anos is right, they should be back by now…" Riku said summoning his keyblade.

"You think it's him?" Kairi asked looking around.

"Sora?" Anos asked, his eyes going everywhere.

"No, Siv. The heartless didn't show until he left," Kairi said.

"He could have called them off before," Riku said staying ready for anything.

"Or he could be that dark of a being," Anos said thoughtfully looking back at Kairi.

"So dark even the darkness fears him…" She muttered before shaking her head to clear it and summoning her keyblade.

That's when the ground started to shake and they could hear a sound off in the distance.

"NO!" Anos shouted looking at where the sound came from.

"What is it?" Kairi and Riku asked in unison turning to follow Anos' gaze.

"The army. It's coming through," Anos said in a defeated voice.

"Lets go, maybe we can stop any more getting through," Riku said as he started in the direction of the sound.

He only made it a few steps before skidding to a halt. Siv was sitting on the ground between Riku and the sound, facing the three of them. Riku didn't know how long he had been there; he was out of sight until Riku moved.

"What is it Riku?" Kairi asked.

"What's wrong?" Anos asked.

Both of them were just about to start running after Riku when he stopped and now that he had they slowly moved towards him. Riku didn't say anything; he just sent his keyblade away and drew his katana.

"You were right Kairi," Anos said as they reached Riku, his range of vision being slightly larger in the darkness than the goggles granted.

"Siv," was all Kairi said when he entered her vision and she reached Riku.

"Well we found him," Riku said once the others reached him.

"I'll handle this," Kairi said to them as she sent her keyblade away and walked closer to Siv.

As she neared him he looked up at her and got to his feet, "still alive?" he growled.

Kairi stopped moving when he spoke. The two were about ten feet from each other and they both simply stood looking at each other.

"You still want to fight me?" Kairi asked with a calmness she didn't have. Siv simply nodded. "Then on one condition," Kairi said reaching into her pocket and taking out the bloodied necklace.

She put the necklace on and took Sora's off before holding it out towards Siv, "we'll fight wearing these, I'll wear the bloody one and you wear the clean one. If you agree I'll fight you alone, the others won't step in," Kairi said managing to keep up her false calm.

"Kairi what the hell are you thinking?" Riku shouted stepping towards her.

"I'll be fine Riku, I can take him. I know I can," she said with a smirk.

Riku stopped moving but wasn't convinced. He was pretty sure he was better than Kairi, and Siv showed himself to be better than he was. Riku just stood there watching, wondering what Kairi was thinking.

Siv just stood staring at Kairi for a moment before he raised his hand to accept the necklace. Kairi dropped her smirk and tossed the metal chain and charm to him. Siv caught it easily and looked at it for a long moment before raising his eyes to Kairi again. "Why?" came the rumble of his voice.

"I won't be able to lose you in the darkness so easily, it'll make the fight more fair," Kairi said confidently.

"Kairi, what are you doing?" Riku asked quietly from behind her. He had continued towards her while Siv was staring at the necklace.

"After I was attacked I met Sora's other selves," she said quietly. She caught Riku's confused look and continued before he could say anything, "I can explain more later; but I met three of them, one couldn't give me his name, but I think I figured it out. There was something about him, he looked just like Sora did three years ago, but there was something else. Something in the way he looked at me, the way he talked to me… something in his eyes…" Kairi said before looking down.

"After seeing him I found myself wanting to see Sora, for the first time that I can remember I needed to see him. Not because Sakura asked me to, or because we needed his help to fight this, but because I wanted to see if he, the real him, had that same look in his eyes," she said before looking back at Siv.

"And he's the key?" Riku asked.

"Yes," Kairi said nodding.

"I'll watch your back then," Riku said patting her shoulder before turning and walking back to stand by Anos.

"What's going on?" Anos asked when Riku reached him.

"She figured stuff out. I don't understand part of it and there's not time to ask now so we gotta trust her," Riku said folding his arms and looking between Kairi and Siv.

Siv was still looking at the necklace thoughtfully when Riku returned to Anos. Kairi was getting worried he wouldn't put it on. She knew if he didn't do it himself now she'd have to fight him and knock him out. She also knew she had no chance in a fight with him, even if he was unarmed.

Siv looked back at Kairi, "fair," he growled before undoing the latch on the necklace and placing the chain around his neck. Kairi had a small smile on her face as Siv fastened the chain and dropped his arms to his side. Before his arms had fully embraced the gravity of their drop the charm shone brightly and Siv grabbed the sides of his head letting out a scream.

All three observers stepped back from the scream, it wasn't human. Whatever it was, it was powerful, it was dangerous, and it was death. Kairi stepped forward after her initial step back. Slowly she approached Siv as he twitched and writhed around on the floor. She stopped a few feet from him and she barely registered it when Riku and Anos arrived behind her.

After several minutes of rolling on the floor and writhing in silent pain Siv finally stopped. He was lying on his side, his back to the three, and was breathing heavily. They just watched as he slowly got to his feet and stumbled for a few steps before starting to turn around to face them. He was mostly turned around when he suddenly hunched over and began vomiting. All three spectators stepped back out of range of the spray and splatter. Kairi was starring at Siv with an utterly disgusted look on her face. Riku and Anos were more worried about what it was that he was vomiting. It was purely liquid and noticeable thicker than water as well as pure black.

After three retches Riku was certain that Siv's stomach, like the stomach of any normal human who might have been in a similar situation, was empty. Despite this Siv retched four more times, each time more of the black liquid poured out than the time before. Finally after seven retches Siv was left hunched over with his hands on his knees and breathing heavily but no longer puking.

Kairi was staring at Siv hoping he didn't start puking again, Riku was looking at the ground in front of Siv where a large puddle of vomit should have been, and yet there was nothing. The ground had soaked it all in. Anos was staring at Siv wide-eyed and glanced over at Kairi, "What the hell did you do to him Kairi?"

At the mention of Kairi's name Siv's head perked up slightly, "Kairi?" he muttered in a weakened whisper. The sound was far from his normal growl, it actually sounded human. After speaking Siv started to straighten up again and turn towards Kairi. Kairi was moving towards him with rage in her steps and before Siv's head was fully lifted Kairi had smacked him across the face with what seamed to be all her might. Siv stumbled back several steps and nearly fell back but maintained his feet.

"Kairi, I think he's defeated already," Riku said in an attempt to calm her down.

"It was you the whole time!" Kairi shouted stepping closer to Siv.

"…Kairi…" Siv said in the same weak voice, he was holding his face and hunched forward again. Riku's ears perked up at this, last time he thought he imagined it but Siv's new voice was somehow familiar. But he couldn't place it for the life of him.

"Don't you dare say my name, don't you dare speak to me!" Kairi cut him off stomping her foot on the ground. "I always thought I hated you more than anything else in the world. I thought it was impossible to have more hate for something than I did for you, but then you do this. It was you this whole time. This Whole Time!" she bellowed, the volume of her voice aimed directly at him knocking Siv back to sit on the ground.

Siv looked around him; he still had his right hand on his face where Kairi had slapped him, "I-I don't remember-"

"I don't care," Kairi cut him off again. She reached back and unfastened the necklace she was wearing and threw it at Siv, it bounced off his chest, "I just want the chance to look in your pathetic face after you fix it and see the look in your eyes, see if you're even human," she said before turning around and walking back to Riku.

"Kairi…" Riku started, unsure what he should say.

"Mission accomplished," She said before taking a few more steps away from Siv and sitting on the ground, her knees pulled into her chest, her arms around her legs and her chin resting on her knees.

Riku stared wide-eyed at Kairi after she said that and watched as she sat down. Once she was seated he snapped out of it and ran over to Siv, kneeling in front of him and grabbing his shoulders, "Sora?"

Siv raised his head at the word and looked at Riku. His eyes were no longer glowing yellow; they were the same blue as Sora's. Kairi was right, it was him. "Riku… what's going on? I have so many mixed memories. Why's Kairi so mad at me? What did I do?" he asked almost pleadingly.

"Your head was messed with. We couldn't recognize you and we fought against you. You almost killed Kairi," Riku said slowly.

Sora's eyes shot wide at this, "is… is she okay?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, physically. That guy there, "Riku pointed at Anos, "his name's Anos, he's a healer. He fixed her up," Riku said before being silent for a while, "What happened?" he asked.

"I still can't remember; it's coming back in bits and pieces. I remember… I remember sealing the door. And that charm, I took it off. After that its darkness and flashes of images. Kairi… why does, wait. Sakura, the White Queen. I remember now, her spell. So Kairi wouldn't be upset after I left…" Sora said, as he spoke his gaze moved around, starting on Riku, going to Anos who was standing close enough to hear the two talk but stayed quiet, then to Kairi for a long time before moving back to Riku.

"Yeah, an all that she just said, I'm positive it's the spell," Riku said confidently.

"Right…" Sora said meekly looking down.

At this point Anos moved around to Sora's side and started helping him to his feet. Riku stood as the two got up and turned back to Kairi, "I think we should get back to the Grey Castle," he said loud enough for her to hear.

"So you're Sora?" Anos asked once Sora was on his feet.

"Yeah, Riku said your name was Anos, thanks for helping find me," Sora said offering his hand; Anos grinned as he shook it.

Kairi walked up to them in silence, her gaze went from Anos, over Sora to Riku, "then lets go," she said before looking at Anos, "you said you can feel the castle out? Can you get us to the portal to the Realm of the Light?"

Anos simply nodded before he started to move through the darkness, the other three following close behind. They moved in complete silence, Sora's vision slowing waning as his eyes reverted back to the normal human spectrum and away from the nocturnal spectrum. He could barely see the small sheen of John's sword on Riku's back by the time they reached the gates of the castle.

"Riku, you said you fought me? How could you see?" Sora asked once his vision was past usefulness.

"Huh? Oh crap!" Riku said spinning around and seeing that Sora wasn't wearing goggles. "Kairi, Anos, did the Omegas give either of you an extra pair of goggles?"

"No, I didn't need any?" Anos said looking back at Riku.

"No, I only got the one pair," Kairi said shrugging.

"Damn. If we get into a fight he'll be useless like this," Riku said looking at Sora.

"Sorry about this," Sora said looking at them; he could barely see the shapes of their figures and couldn't tell them apart.

"No," Kairi said taking her goggles off, "He's a better fighter than I am, we'll need him more that we'll need me," Kairi said holding her goggles our towards Sora.

"Kairi… thanks," Sora said reaching for the goggles; Riku had to help them into his hand.

"It's not for you, we need to get back, Sakura's expecting all of us, and unless you spent the last three years sleeping you'll help better in a pinch," Kairi said turning away from Sora and crossing her arms.

"Kairi, hold my hand, I'll lead you through and stick with you," Anos said calmly holding his hand out. Kairi smiled and nodded as she took it.

"Let's go then," Riku said once Sora's goggles were in place.

The others nodded and Sora stepped forward to open the doors. After a moment the swung open silently and the four moved inside. Sora shut the doors once they had entered.

"Where's the portal?" Kairi asked as the crept through the halls.

"It was in a courtyard, but I'm not sure how to get there from here, I was coming from the Cathedral," Anos said.

"The courtyard? Turn left up here," Sora said pointing to a branch in the hallway.

The three others looked back at him, "you know your way around here?" Kairi demanded in a voice a bit too loud.

"Bits and pieces, they seem to come to me as I need them," Sora said defensively taking a step back.

Anos simply nodded and followed Sora's instructions. They seemed to have no incidents, Sora guiding the group from the back as the made their way through the castle. Then the whole building began to shake and they knew it was like last time and soon enough the sound came again, it was a loud whistling sound, like too much air being pulled through too small a space.

All four of them braced for impact as they started moving faster, they didn't know what they would run into now, but they knew they would get caught soon enough. Only a few seconds after the sound started their fears were realized. Turning the corner ahead of them and coming straight for the group were odd shaped figures all looking identical.

They stood about eight feet tall and had broad shoulders and a large torso. Their arms and legs where like miniature tree trunks and their heads held no faces. They were all featureless and smooth, as if carved from marble. Their heads were merely oblong shapes with a horizontal line where the eyes would be. Their feet had no toes and their hands had three fingers and a thumb. They were a deep grey in color.

"That would be the army," Anos said as the figures started towards them.

"Any special name for them?" Sora asked as Ragnarok appeared in his hand.

"Greymen," Anos said quickly.

Sora simply nodded and charged the Greymen and slammed Ragnarok into the first one's chest. The keyblade did nothing and simply bounced off. Sora quickly ran back to the others, "suggestions?" he asked in a hurried tone.

Riku nodded and held out John's sword for Sora as he drew his katana. Sora nodded his understanding as Ragnarok vanished and he took John's sword. "Anos, keep behind us and keep close, we'll carve a path, I'll lead the way," Sora said before charging the Greymen, Riku right behind him.

John's sword worked perfectly, it cut through the Greymen like warm butter, they stood no chance, except for numbers. Riku's katana wasn't quite as effective, but it got the job done, and he kept up with Sora. Anos and Kairi stood far enough back to not get in the way but close enough to move when Sora and Riku did.

The four moved like this through three more halls before Sora made noise beyond the grunts of fighting, "That door halfway down is it," he shouted as he moved forward. Riku was in the back of the group, after they made their first turn the Greymen appeared behind them so Riku moved to the back to defend the rear. Slowly they made their way to the door and Anos opened it as Riku and Sora held off the Greymen.

"Oh hell," Anos said as soon as the door was open. Riku and Sora looked over their shoulders to see what Anos was talking about and copied his response when they saw it.

The portal was still in the center of the courtyard, but the rest of it was a sea of Greymen. Mixed in with the Greymen were large doglike creatures. They had the same smooth seamless skin as the Greymen and stood about five and a half feet at the shoulder. Their heads were all jaw and they had innumerable teeth. At the other end they had whip like tails with three ends. They were a dirty white color.

"Bonehounds," Anos said answering the question neither Riku nor Sora had time to ask, "more powerful than the Greymen," he added, confirming both boys' fears.

The Greymen and Bonehounds were all moving towards the portal back to the Realm of Light. There was no way to know how many had made it through but they could slow or stop the tide. At some silent cue all four started for the portal, it granted enough light for Kairi to see for herself in the courtyard.

She had her katana in her hand and was beating the Greymen and Bonehounds back, but she had far less faith in her blade than Riku had in his, so she only manage to knock them back not kill them. Anos was beside her and was using his fists, none of the others were watching him, they were too focused on their own fight, but if they were they would notice he was dong as much damage as Kairi by aiming at the throats.

Sora and Riku were setting the pace, as they moved Sora notice he had more trouble with the Bonehounds and Riku noticed that, although he could cut them, he was not cutting through them. The four reached the portal and Riku went through first to clear a space for the others to land. Sora kept everything back as Kairi and Anos went through and after a minute to be sure they were clear he jumped through as well.

The other side of the portal was blazingly bright in comparison to the Dark Realm and Sora barely had the break in time to push the goggles off his face, Riku had done the same. The four of them stood at the portal, Sora and Anos facing it and killing what tried to come through, Riku and Kairi at their backs killing what came for them.

"We're all through, close the damn thing!" Riku shouted a moment after Sora was through. He chanced a look and saw all three Omegas were there as well cutting down the Nano army.

Sora didn't have time to look and see if any others were there but he knew someone had to be because after a moment the portal closed. Once it was Kairi laughed out a "finally," before channeling magic. Sora could feel the energy radiating off of her as she shouted out the spell name and threw both fists into the ground, "Holy!" she bellowed.

The magic went off in a burst of energy and light and all the Nanos around the group of four were sent back, but none were harmed. This was noticed by all four of them and Kairi cursed as she stood back up and got back into her stance.

"No magic? Fine then," Riku said standing up straight and holding his blade vertically in frond of him in his right hand, his left along the side of the blade halfway up its length. "Cut away their darkness, Dawn's Edge," he said in a stern voice. Wind rushed from Riku and his sword glowed for a brief moment before the wind stopped and in Riku's hands was a large war axe.

The three others looked at him for a moment before he charged the nearest Bonehound, which had just gotten back to its feet, and cut it cleanly in two vertically. As the two halves fell Riku looked back at his three, now wide-eyed, companions, "Lets get this over with," he smirked before running headlong into the fray.

Sora laughed and tossed Kairi John's sword, "no mercy," he said before Ragnarok appeared in his hand. He raised it up and said "Courage" before his clothes changed to red, though they stayed rags, and Masamune appeared in his other hand. Grinning Sora charged into the sea of Nanos in the opposite direction as Riku.

Kairi watched Sora charge in and huffed before sheathing her blade and taking John's in both hands, "I'll cut a way out for you," she said looking at Anos who nodded his thanks. Once Anos was out of the sea of enemies Kairi rushed back in taking down all in her path.

Anos sat down at the edge of the crater and watched the mass of battle and mayhem. Judging by the number of Nano bodies he assumed they had been coming out of the portal for a while, maybe even since they first felt the ground shake. Looking around he saw that there were bodies leading out of the crater and towards the Grey Castle, he could see that they only made it about two miles out of the crater before they started being attacked, the Omegas moved in rather quickly.

After what had to have been at least an hour, and maybe even two, the last of the Nano army, a Bonehound, was destroyed by Kairi's expert swordsmanship. Once they were gone Sora exited his form, he had just been using Final, and collapsed onto the ground on his back, keyblades vanishing with the form. Riku turned his axe into a katana again and sat on one of the carcasses as he sheathed it. Kairi fell back to sit on the floor, John's sword lying next to her.

All three of them were breathing heavily and sporting minor wounds from the fight. The three Omegas remained standing and simply sent their weapons away. They didn't seam affected at all by the fight, but they all knew that if they didn't have the help there was the chance they would be over taken by the shear number. Bruxeus walked over to where Sora was lying down, "Finally back huh?"

"Yeah," Sora breathed out.

"You okay? You don't look to good. You're all torn up and kinda pale," Bruxeus said with a raised eyebrow.

"Three years in darkness," Sora managed between breaths.

"I guess," Bruxeus said offering his hand to help Sora up. Sora waved it off and stayed on the ground.

"Who closed the portal? I know you or Vaxer couldn't've, and I doubt Xexox would take the time from the fight," Sora said, his breath was returning to him now.

Bruxeus sat on one of the bodies, "your right, and Xexox can't do it either, it was Yen Sid," he said pointing towards the edge of the crater.

Sora forced himself to sit up and looked at where Bruxeus was pointing. Standing there, next to where Anos was sitting, was the elderly mage in blue. "Why would he come here? I thought he didn't like acting, it had high risks or something," Sora said without taking his eyes off the caster.

"I don't know. From where I'm standing the situation, and this is a mother of a situation we have, isn't any worse than what came of the second Organization. Though this is already worse that the first Organization and Xehanort's heartless," Bruxeus said watching as Vaxer walked towards Yen Sid and Xexox headed towards Riku.

"What _is_ going on?" Sora asked after a moment.

"We'll explain later, after you all catch your breath. I think Riku and Kairi know more than me at this point anyway," Bruxeus said with a smirk as he stood and headed towards Kairi to check on her. "It's good to have you back," He called back to Sora as he walked away.

Sora smirked sadly "I wish it were good to be back," he said quietly.


	7. Within the White Castle

**Chapter 7: Within the White Castle**

Sora forced himself to his feet. His whole body hurt and he felt like those minor cuts he had were much deeper that they looked. He looked at the field a moment; bodies of the Nanos were everywhere. Xexox had pulled Riku to his feet and the pair was making their way towards Yen Sid. Anos and Vaxer were already there waiting. Bruxeus was helping Kairi to her feet; Sora watched them for a moment while they exchanged a few words and started towards the mage. After sighing Sora did the same.

As the five warriors got close to Yen Sid, moving at three different paces and from three different directions, a spike of ice shot out of the ground beside the mage. Everyone stopped and looked at the projection, the spike was large enough for a full grown man to be encased inside. Moments after appearing the ice shattered revealing that there was, in fact, someone inside. It was a woman standing as tall as Yen Sid.

She wore half-plate armor over her blue skin and her blue hair was down her back. Her armor had a blue tint to it as well, though it was darker than her sky blue skin and lighter than her deep blue hair. A partial helm was on her head; it covered the top and sides, but left the back open for her hair to flow out. A metal visor was over the top of her face, but her mouth was still exposed.

"Shiva, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Yen Sid asked calmly.

"You are being summoned to a meeting in their Cathedral," Shiva responded in an official tone.

"Who?" Anos asked confused.

"All of you," Shiva answered looking at the boy.

"Who summoned us?" Riku ask as he and Xexox reached the others.

"The White King and Queen," Shiva said simply before she was instantly incased in ice again. The ice shattered and she was gone.

"The White King and Queen?" Kairi asked excitedly.

"Why would they want to talk to us?" Sora asked looking at the others.

"The White Queen sent us to get you," Riku informed his friend.

"We best make haste, we do not wish to keep them waiting," Yen Sid said holding out his right hand.

Riku and Sora placed theirs onto his, and after a moment Anos and Kairi joined them. "See you there," Bruxeus said as he, Xexox and Vaxer vanished.

Almost instantly after they were gone the scenery around the group melted away and was quickly replaced by the front gates of the White Castle, the Omegas already walking inside. Yen Sid retracted his hand and silently followed after, heading into the castle. The four heroes were quick to follow.

"Why can't we just warp into the Cathedral?" Sora asked.

"It's part of it being a neutral ground. No one but the king of that castle can warp into its Cathedral. Any can warp out however," Yen Sid answered simply.

The rest of the walk was made in silence, Sora had a few more questions he wanted to ask, but every time he did Kairi gave him a look. He didn't know if it was because they all already knew it, or because he was bothering her, all he knew was that he never wanted her to look at him like that again.

After a long walk in silence the group turned a corner and could see Shiva standing in the middle of the hall halfway down. The double doors just in front of her were open and when the group got closer Shiva raised her left arm towards the doorway, signaling them to enter. Standing just inside the doorway facing towards each other as the group passed were two men. The one on the left was the bald man Riku saw before, his white mustache and beard nearly reaching the floor. He stood slightly shorter than Yen Sid and wore an elegant emerald green cloak and held a wooden staff in his right hand.

The man on the right was of nearly monstrous proportions, the top of Yen Sid's pointed hat barely reaching his shoulders. The man had deep red skin and full plate armor on his lower half and arms. The armor was tined red, though not as deep a red as his skin. His hands were bare and his torso was covered in belts and leather straps. His posture was slightly hunched forward and his neck one and a half time longer than it seemed it should be. He had a one piece helm slid over his face and two horns that curved back to the area at the base of his neck.

None of the heroes could tell if the horns were from the helm or not, the man's head was too far above theirs. Once they had passed the two men Kairi stepped forward and whispered "Who are they?" to Yen Sid as they walked. Sora was instantly glad that he wasn't the only one to have not met these people.

"The blue one is Shiva. The man in green is Ramuh. The red one is Ifrit," Yen Sid stated simply.

Halfway down the aisle the group of heroes stopped behind the Omega who seemed to be talking to someone standing in the center of the aisle. Shortly after they stopped the sound of the doors being closed could be heard. The heroes turned back to see Ifrit and Ramuh holding the doors in place as Shiva slid the lock home. Once they had completed this task they started down the aisle and stopped behind the heroes.

As soon as the three had reached the group the man in front of the Omega turned and started down the aisle, the group following behind. When they reached the end of the aisle the man turned again and gestured the Omegas to sit in the left hand pews, the heroes in the right, and Yen Sid to the left.

The man was dressed fully in full-plate armor from the neck down. The armor was mainly grey in color though it had black and golden yellow accents. He wore a blue green cape that was slightly tattered at the end. His skin was a pale yellow color and he had two horns on his otherwise bald head. They sprouted out above his ears and winded in an upwards direction for nearly two feet, sprouting slightly at each turn. Without his horns he was about at tall as Shiva or Ramuh.

Once the eight were seated the man turned and stood at the far end of the left hand pews, Ramuh following to stand beside him. Shiva and Ifrit did the same on the right hand side. All four stood facing the altar. Sora and the others were watching in slight wonder and curiosity, but he quickly noticed that the Omega and Yen Sid were calm and facing forward. Either they were used to this, or were good and hiding their confusion.

After the four guards were at their posts Sakura and Gandalf emerged from behind the red curtain that ran across the altar, dividing it into front and back halves. Sakura smiled as she looked at the four heroes on the right hand side, "wonderful Kairi, you managed to find him," she said in a tone that almost sounded like relief.

"Yes, your highness," Kairi said standing up as she spoke, "though I don't know why he's so important," she added in an undertone.

Sora's heart sank at hearing those words and his head bowed, Sakura's smile wavered for a moment at hearing it, though as Kairi sat down Sakura managed to act like she didn't hear it.

"What were you doing while you were gone?" Gandalf asked stopping Sakura from pursuing her questions of Kairi.

At this point Sora stood up, "I wandered the darkness until I faded away. I'm still getting memories back about after that, but I know I helped Sol, the guy in charge of all of this," Sora said looking around, he was afraid to look the White King in the eyes.

"Do you know how he managed to open the portals?" Sakura asked taking a step towards Sora.

"No, not entirely. He said the information was trapped in another mans mind. It was only four weeks ago that he managed to finally pull the knowledge out. Those four weeks were spent doing what needed to be done to open the portal," Sora said looking at Sakura but avoiding looking her in the eyes.

"Now that the portal has been closed, how long until they can reopen it?" Yen Sid asked as he stood and faced Sora.

"I'm not sure, a matter of hour's maybe. It took so long the first time 'cause he was still figuring it out, but he knows it now," Sora said turning to Yen Sid and shrugging.

"This Sol must be a powerful mage," Gandalf said looking at Yen Sid who shook his head.

"None of mine chose that name. However, it could always be a second name," Yen Sid said knowledgeably.

"Who else was there? Helping Sol?" Sakura asked stopping Gandalf from continuing his conversation with Yen Sid.

"There was me, and Sol," Sora started, counting off on his fingers as Yen Sid sat down, "a big guy, I can't remember his name but he hated Sol, there was a normal guy, Xah I think, and a girl, Jen if I remember," Sora said thinking hard, "I never saw any of them fight, so I don't know what they can do, but Sol seemed to have something over them, all of them. He never said what it was but whenever they started to get out of line he threatened to 'put them back where he got them' whatever that meant," Sora said looking up at the White King and Queen.

Sakura smiled politely and she nodded at him, "And you said two of your friends have joined them?" she asked looking at Anos.

"Um, yeah, I did," Anos said clumsily as he rushed to stand up. He wasn't expecting to be spoken to. "And those guys we had to fight on our way out, and the ones outside the portal in that crater, they were the Nanos, Thal and Fos started bringing them over already," he added hastily.

"How many kinds of Nanos are there? We saw two, are they as disperse as the heartless?" Bruxeus asked leaning forward in his seat to see Anos.

"I don't know how diverse the heartless are, but there's lots of kinds of Nanos, the Greymen and Bonehounds you saw," Anos said holding up two fingers, then using the others to count off he continued, "then there's Maws, Bagers, Bleeders, Drakes, Wyrms, Titons, Ropers, Fireflies, Razors, Juggernauts-"

"I get it kid, lots of kinds," Bruxeus said cutting Anos off. The boy nodded and dropped his hands.

"Is there any weakness to the Nanos, something we can exploit?" Riku asked.

"Yes, on most of them at least, they share a weak spot; the throat. On all of them with throats except the Juggernauts, hitting them there dose a lot more damage than anywhere else," Anos said turning to talk to Riku.

"Anything else?" Kairi asked hopefully.

"Nothing I know of. And Thal and Fos adjusted that one, it doesn't hurt them as much as before," Anos said slumping his shoulders and sitting down.

"So, is there any reason you called council like this? If it was just an info swap we could've done that anywhere," Xexox said simply.

"Drastic things are happening. We don't know what this will do to the worlds, or to the universe. Whoever this Sol person is, we must find a way to end him. And this army of Nanos. Sora," Gandalf said looking at the keybearer suddenly.

The boy shot to his feet, "Yes?"

"The man who knew the information on how to open the portal, what is his status?" Gandalf asked sternly.

"He was dead before Sol started, that's why it took so long. But Sol recently had the big guy destroy the body completely," Sora added.

Gandalf nodded and Sora sat down, "that's one less thing we have to worry about," he said, though his voice did not convey any measure of calmness.

Gandalf was about to say more when there was a loud banging on the door. All heads turned towards the door, some in confusion others in worry. The four guards all took defensive stances and rushed to stand in the space between the altar and first row of pews. They stood blocking the way from the door to the White King and Queen.

No one moved as a second bang rang out, but on the third the heroes and Omegas stood and faced the door. Yen Sid merely let out a sigh as he, too, rose to his feet. On the fourth bang the doors finally gave in, they swung open fully, the locks breaking off and hitting the floor a few feet from the door. Standing in the doorway, a look of utter seriousness on his face, was Seig.

Upon seeing him the Omegas sat back down, but kept watching him, Anos and Riku did the same. Sora remained standing, wondering who the man was, and Kairi was fuming that he would barge into the White Castle. The four guards all relaxed in stance at seeing him, but none moved from their place. Seig only stood in the doorway for a brief moment before walking into the Cathedral and down the aisle towards the others.

"Times _are_ dire. The whole of the universe will be affected by it," Seig said as he strode towards the group, "the Era of Kings is at an end."

"Preposterous," Gandalf bellowed stepping towards Seig and moving past his guard.

Seig paused for a moment before reaching the end of the aisle and standing face to face with Gandalf, the White King moving out to meet him. "You're denial proves you know I'm right," Seig said calmly but sternly.

"How?" Gandalf shouted into Seig's face.

"Because if you didn't, you'd think the Era of Kings was already over," Seig said with a slightly raised voice and strong tone. Gandalf just stared at Seig before turning and walking back to Sakura.

"Excuse me, but when?" Kairi asked meekly. She may not like Seig, but after he managed to stand up to the White King, with the look he had on his face, she had to at the least respect the man.

"When what?" Seig asked turn to Kairi, his voice had lost all its edge, but he face still showed the seriousness of the situation.

"When would the Era of Kings have ended? And what is the Era of Kings?" she asked sitting down as Seig looked at her.

"When Sora defeated the Black King. Gandalf knows the era hasn't ended yet, and that could only be through two ways," Seig said looking back at the White King.

"He is _not_ alive," Gandalf said sternly as he spun to face Seig.

"Then it is the other option. Another had taken his throne before the moon eclipsed," Seig responded calmly.

"My money's on this Sol guy," Bruxeus said quietly, though the whole room heard him.

"But, what is the Era of Kings?" Riku repeated Kairi's question.

"Everything from the dawn of time up until now. No one knows what will happen when the era ends," Seig said calmly before pointing a finger at Gandalf, "And you cannot deny it is ending," he said louder in an accusing tone.

Gandalf's face straightened, "no, I cannot. Not any longer. I do not know how to prevent this though."

"We don't. We can't. It has already passed that point. All that we can do is to make sure it ends on our terms, not theirs," Seig said confidently.

"And how do we achieve that?" Xexox asked as he and the other Omegas rose to their feet.

Seig turned to them with a slight smirk, but it vanished before he spoke, "I am going to ask each of you to do something. I'm not sure when I'll ask, but it will be when something needs to be done. What I ask of you may be hard, or painful. It may even be fatal, I am unsure."

"We'll do what we can," Bruxeus said nodding.

"It feels good to be on a side, to be doing something. If that is how I go out, I will be glad to have helped," Vaxer said smirking.

"The Omega's are at your side," Xexox said holding his had out to Seig who smiled as he shook it.

"Something dire may be asked of you as well, in fact, I'm sure it will," Seig said turning to the White King and Queen as well as their guards.

"Do you have a plan?" Gandalf asked.

"You so rarely show yourself, so rarely show interest, why did you choose now, how are you so confident?" Sakura asked.

"I've been saving up for this one. I know some of what happens and so I know some of what we must do," Seig said answering the queen's question.

"If you have a plan, you have our aid," Gandalf said with a piercing look at Seig.

Seig turned around to face Sora and the others, "this is your cue to exit. We'll fill you in on what you need to know," he said folding his hands behind his back.

"Why can't we stay?" Riku asked rising to his feet.

"Young ears," Bruxeus said with a smirk as he walked towards to aisle.

"This is a meeting for the military heads now, us soldiers will be informed later," Vaxer said as he stepped up behind Bruxeus, the two leaving the Cathedral.

"I'm staying," Sora said firmly.

"Me too," Kairi added stubbornly.

"No. None of you will stay. Shiva will lead the four of you to rooms you can stay in," Sakura said gesturing the blue woman, "and can get better cloths if you need it," she added eyeing Sora's rags.

Kairi sighed but nodded while Sora seemed like he would still press the point but Riku pushed him towards the door so he started out. The four were walking towards the door, Shiva in the lead when a voice called out.

"Phantasmagoria," Seig said simply.

Everyone turned to look at him, Sakura, Gandalf and the guards recognizing the word, the others just confused at what Seig said.

"What do you mean? I haven't felt anything," Gandalf said taking a step towards Seig.

Seig glanced back at the king, "not that," and he looked back at the four and pointed at Riku, "that."

"What?" Riku asked looking down.

"That sword on you back, where did you get it?" Seig asked as his arm dropped.

"It was John's. Sakura told me to keep it. And his coat," Riku said looking at Seig strangely.

"I didn't think you'd mind," Sakura said quietly.

"That's what I thought. Phantasmagoria is the name of his blade. I bet it cut down those Nanos rather well," Seig said confidently.

"Yeah, it did," Sora said nodding.

"Better than your Zanpakutou I'd wager," Seig added with a smirk.

Riku's eyes widened, "yeah, but we managed," he said simply.

Seig's smirk faded, "that's what I thought. You kids have fun now," he added before turning back towards Xexox and the others.

Shiva beckoned and the four followed her out of the Cathedral.

The five walked in silence before Anos hurried to walk beside Shiva, "Um, excuse me, Miss Shiva," he said slightly nervous.

"Yes?" she inquired politely.

"I don't mean to sound rude but, well, first off, who was that one with the horns. Not the big one, the other one," Anos said, he started talking fast at the end, and stumbling over his words.

"His name is Odin. And he is the leader of the Knights," Shiva said.

"Knights?" Sora asked from a few steps behind.

"We represent four of the remaining members of the White Knights. Gilgamesh was among our numbers, but he fell in the line of duty," Shiva said in her official tone.

"Gilgamesh? We met him, he trained us. How did he die?" Kairi asked.

"The room closed around him," was all the answer Shiva gave.

After a silence Sora asked, "does the Black King have Knights too?"

"He did. I know some have fallen, some at my hands. But I do not know if any lasted longer than their king," Shiva responded in her official voice.

-XXX-

Sakura and Gandalf each sat on a chair that was on the altar. Seig sat on the left hand front row pew, Xexox on the right. The other three knights had left the room and Yen Sid stood somewhat off to the side.

"What exactly will you be asking of us? And how do you know how things will turn out?" Xexox asked.

"And by what authority do you have to take charge?" Gandalf added looking intently at Seig.

"I can't tell you what I'll need to ask, because I'm not sure if I really will need to ask. I know what's going on because I saw it through another's eyes. It was a choice I made. But my knowing might change things, which means what I may need to ask may no longer be a necessity," Seig said looking at Xexox.

"How?" Sakura asked leaning forward.

"He can't answer that," Yen Sid said stepping forward.

"Which means it was you doing," Xexox clarified, Yen Sid merely nodded.

"That does not answer my question, where do you get your authority from?" Gandalf asked again.

"Wow. Your _really_ don't like me. I always thought it was a passing thing," Seig said turning to Gandalf and laughing slightly, "I can't tell you now. If I let it out, it could find its way to ears we don't want to hear it. But I promise I will let you know."

"That's not very comforting," Sakura said trying to ease the tension.

"I know. But it's the best I can offer," Seig said with a sigh.

"I've been thinking. Perhaps further aid would not be an arguable approach," Yen Sid said looking at the White King and Queen.

"No," Seig said before either could answer.

"Hey now, we may need all the help we can get," Xexox said standing up and facing Seig.

"I won't deny that, but I know who he's taking about. Their aid is not a good idea here," Seig said also standing.

"I don't like being left out of the conversation," Gandalf grumbled.

"They have both proved themselves completely capable in the past," Yen Sid stated.

"Exactly, we've relied on them in the past, we have no right to ask their aid again," Seig countered.

"They're both reliable in a fight, and near impossible to kill," Yen Sid retorted stepping towards Seig.

"That's because one is the spawn of an immortal and the other fights harder and stronger the more he gets hurt. Which reminds me, did you ever get rid of that mark?" Seig asked raising an eyebrow at Yen Sid.

"I never said I would. I told him I would do everything in my power to do so," Yen Sid defensively.

"But did you do it?" Seig repeated.

"No, I was unable to," Yen Sid admitted.

"And you tried everything you could. That doesn't give him much incentive to help again, does it?" Seig asked somewhat triumphantly.

"Very well, but Anung is a king," Yen Sid said sternly.

"Who the hell are you two talking about?" Xexox demanded.

Seig looked at him, then Gandalf and Sakura, "well the first was Gutts, who we just agreed wouldn't help if we asked. And by the way, if we got both they'd kill each other," Seig added looking back at Yen Sid.

"The other is Anung un Rama," Yen Sid said pretending to not hear what Seig just said.

"I remember Gutts, but who?" Xexox asked in a baffled tone.

"He prefers the name Hellboy. And yes, he is a king. But not a king of this standing, not in regards to the Era of Kings. He's a king at the same point as Mickey is, or Ansem was," Seig said his eyes still on Yen Sid.

"Just because they weren't here when we looked through younger eyes," Yen Sid started.

"Which is exactly why I'm refusing," Seig cut him off, "sure, it might make things go faster, but it might screw things over too. I think just us knowing is enough of a risk."

"I think we've been off track long enough. Whoever this Hellboy is, if it's a risk to ask him for help, it would be best not to ask," Gandalf said sternly, Yen Sid simply nodded in defeat.

"Do you have a plan of any kind?" Sakura asked after a short pause.

"Yes. And I'm almost positive you won't like it," Seig said, his stern face returning.

-XXX-

Sora was sitting at the foot of a bed in a white room in the White Castle. Shiva had already given him a change of clothes, and aside from the white gym shoes, he had already changed into it. He was wearing black cargo pants that went just past his knees and a white undershirt. He had a light grey zip-up hoodie open over the shirt. The sleeves of the hoodie were cut off just above the elbows, and he had black fingerless gloves similar to what he had before.

He was sitting at the foot of the bed, one of three in the room, staring at the shoes Shiva had brought him, his mind far from the footwear. He was trying to remember everything about being Siv, but all he was getting was memories of chasing down heartless, and eating them. He could only guess that was the black stuff he had puked up.

After an unknown period of time Riku walked in and sat on one of the other beds, watching Sora, "you okay?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, just trying to remember everything," Sora said looking at Riku.

"How much is missing?" Riku asked watching Sora finish putting his socks on.

"Most of it. I remember everything before being sealed in the Dark Realm, and most of the time I spent wandering, both as me and Siv. But from the castle, only small chunks, bits and pieces. I already told you most of it, everything after that is just more of the same thing," Sora said as he put his shoes on and laced them up.

There was a long silence between the two before Riku spoke again, "Kairi said she met some of your other selves."

Sora looked at him confused, "When? How?"

"After Siv attacked her. She didn't tell me much, but she said one of them wouldn't tell her his name, that she had to figure it out. She said that's how she realized Siv was you, the way he looked at her," Riku said falling back to lie on the bed.

There was a silence again, this time it was Sora who broke it, "have you met your inner selves?"

"Me? Yeah, I did a lot of meditation to learn how to use my Zanpakutou. Honor is the one of them who caries it around," Riku said looking at the ceiling and folding his hands behind his head.

"Have you met all yours?" Sora asked watching his friend.

"Yup," Riku said quietly.

"It was Love that wouldn't tell her his name," Sora said after that.

"That was my guess too," Riku responded.

"How do I do it?" Sora asked after slight pause.

"Do what?" Riku asked leaning forward slightly to look at his friend.

"That spell has her hating me. I-I can't deal with that. I would if it only hurt me, because she'd be happy. But it sealed off one of her selves, it had to of. Friendship or something, I don't know which one but… how can I break it?" Sora asked looking at Riku for help.

"You don't get it, do you?" Riku asked sitting up. "If Love couldn't tell her his name, it's her Love that's sealed away. And this sudden change in her three years ago, it means she embraced her Love before that. She's never met her inner selves, but she's at least embraced Love," Riku said in a determined tone, he was going to make sure Sora got it this time.

"I…I can't take that chance Riku," Sora said looking down.

"It's how you bring her back; it's the only way I know of. But maybe Sakura can help; she put the spell on in the first place," Riku said looking at his own feet, "Just try my idea first, if it doesn't work, at least we know," He added standing up.

Riku started for the door when Sora's voice stopped him, "I'm sorry."

Riku turned to face his friend, "Sorry for what?"

"You said you met all your other selves, meaning you embraced them all. And here I am asking you for help," Sora said looking up at Riku, a small smile on his face.

"I don't get why you should be apologizing," Riku said confused.

"Who is she? You had to of met your love to embrace Love," Sora said in a more up beat voice.

Riku's face went from confused to defeat. He leaned against the frame of the door and slid to the ground, "I locked Love away," he said once he reached the floor.

Sora's face went slack, "Why?"

"I met her in my travels. I know how long it took you to realize you loved Kairi, but I bet you had the feeling instantly, you just didn't know what it was," Riku said glancing at Sora who nodded. "That's what it was for me, but it only took a few days for me to realize I loved her. Then I learned of the war, and I learned she was on the wrong side.

"She wasn't one of the people doing it, but she was fighting on the side of the oppressors. She was a soldier; she swore her allegiance to the leader back when he was honest. She stuck by her vow, by her honor. I tried to convince her to switch sides, but she wouldn't. I had to, so I fought against her. To even be able to fight I had to lock off Love," Riku finished, his entire speech was in a half defeated tone, it was how he felt at the moment.

"What about after the war? Couldn't you unlock Love when it was over, take her with you?" Sora asked in a hopeful tone.

"There was no after the war. The people wouldn't stop until nothing was left of their enemies, they became the oppressors. Realizing this I tried to convince her to leave with me, she wouldn't, she was angered I left her. So I fought along side her. I was determined to get her trust back. She died before I could," Riku said the last part at nearly a whisper. "I never unlocked Love, not even when we fought side by side, I didn't want it to make me do something rash. Now I'm just too afraid of all the pain I'll feel."

Sora couldn't say anything. He had never known the troubles of his friend. He wondered if even Kairi knew, but Riku's next statement broke these thoughts off.

"I haven't told Kairi that story. I told her about being there, and the endless war, but not about her. Part of me doesn't want her to know, I know how she'll react," Riku said quietly.

"Yeah, she'll never leave you alone. She'd probably try and set you up with other girls," Sora said with a small smile.

"She'll try that anyway," Riku said with a smile as well.

Both boys rose to their feet almost in unison, the small smiles on their faces. Riku gave Sora's outfit a once over before smirking, "I hope Shiva found something better for Kairi," he said with a laugh.

"Hey!" Sora shouted before looking down, "It's not that bad. And it's better than those rags."

"Well I can agree with that," Riku said grinning.

"Hey, at least I can move around in this, and anyway, based on my track record with stuff like this, I'll be needing a new set of clothes after every fight," Sora said laughing.

The two boys stood laughing for a while. Both were trying to forget the conversation they just had, and neither was able to, their laughs forced. When they stopped laughing their eyes met and they both dropped the false grins, "Riku, really, I'm sorry," Sora said.

"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault," Riku said waving it off.

"Yeah. But one thing…What was her name?" Sora asked looking at Riku's feet; he didn't want to see the look in his friend's eye.

It was a long time before Riku responded, and when he did Sora didn't expect the answer. "I can't remember," was all he said.

Sora looked up at him at these words before forcing another smile, "Come on, we better meet up with the other two, they might be eating or something, Kairi'll kill you if you miss a meal," he said with another forced laugh.

"If she leaves any for me that is," Riku said with a forced laugh of his own. With that the two boys left the room in search of their companions.

"Oh man," Sora suddenly said as they walked.

"What?" Riku asked looking at his slightly shorter friend.

"I just thought, Kairi channeling Anger," Sora said with a straight face.

"Yikes. Not a fight I would want to have," Riku said with an equally straight face. After a moment they both broke out into laughter again, this time it was genuine, their conversation all but forgotten.

-XXX-

**AN: **sorry for the lack of action, but this was needed for the story to move on. If things go according to plan next chapter will have action in it again. Hope you like it so far!


	8. First Strike

**AN: **sorry for the delay, real life and comic books, you know how it is.

**Chapter 8: First Strike**

Sora and Riku found Kairi and Anos in a somewhat large room with several square tables in it. The two sat across from each other at one of the tables near the doorway. They each had a piece of paper in front of them and they were passing one back and forth writing on it.

Sora and Riku made their way to the table, Anos looking up and noticing them called out, "Hey guys."

Kairi turned around to watch the boys approach, she glared at Sora for a moment before looking at Riku, "I got your coat for you, thanks," she said before standing and grabbing the coat off one of the empty chairs. She now wore a white tank top and a pink hooded jacket. The sleeves of the jacket went to her elbows and the bottom of the jacket was where her ribs ended, leaving a four inch gap between the jacket and her waist.

Riku nodded as he took his coat and put it on, "no problem. I figured you'd be able to get something here anyway," he said looking back at Kairi once his coat was back on.

"So what are we up to now?" Anos asked from his seat.

"No idea," Riku said sitting in the chair to Anos' right, Kairi taking her seat again.

Sora hesitated before taking the seat across from Riku, "we just need to wait until the White King and Queen decide what to do," he said once he was seated.

"I hate waiting," Kairi said looking back at the paper on the table.

"We could train to pass the time," Sora suggested.

"I don't know about you, but that fight with the Nanos wore me out. If you still have the energy to train, maybe you should have fought harder," Kairi said still looking at the paper.

Sora's face fell, his head soon drooping in defeat as well.

"I can try giving you some pointers on meditation. It seems our Zanpakutou are gunna be more effective than the keyblades," Riku said trying to take the attention away from the deflated Sora, "you're gunna want to be as good with it as you can."

Kairi looked up at Riku when he started talking and was grinning before he even finished, "perfect, I wanted to meet my other selves too, this'll work great," she said excitedly as she jumped to her feet.

Riku smirked and stood as well, he led Kairi to another table, away from the door and the others. Sora hadn't moved since Kairi spoke to him and Anos had no idea what to say or do. Riku was gone for a few minutes and when he got back the two were just as they were when he left. "That was your chance you know," he said with a sigh.

"Chance to what?" Sora asked, "how could I have said or done anything that would have a positive effect?"

"I don't know. But you could have tried," Riku said shrugging and glancing back at Kairi, the others following his gaze.

She sat on one of the tables near the back wall, her legs crossed in front of her and her back facing the three. Her back was straight and her hands rested on her knees, her arms limp. Her head was up and facing forward and, thought none of them could see it, her eyes were also closed.

After a long while of sitting and idle chat the boys could hear footsteps from the hall. When the owners of the steps reached the room the four were in the three boys looked up to see Seig and Xexox standing in the doorway.

"Guess that means your planning is over," Riku said with a grin.

"Yes. And there is something we would like for you to do before we fill you in," Xexox said with a nod.

"It won't work," Seig said with a sigh.

Xexox turned to Seig, "because you cannot give us any information to lead us away from believing that is anything beyond an opinion…"

"Yeah yeah yeah, waste of words and waste of time," Seig said waving Xexox off while looking back at the boys.

"What do you need us to do?" Anos asked as he and the other two rose to their feet.

"It's just Sora, but you all come too, we'll be leaving from there," Xexox said turning back to the boys.

"I'll get Kairi then," Riku said walking towards the girl.

"Leaving for where?" Sora asked as Riku walked past him.

"The Grey Castle. It's a more probable place," Seig said as his eyes wondered around the room.

Sora was going to ask what Seig meant when the distinct sound of Kairi's meditation being broken could be heard. She let out a loud 'eep' before nearly falling from the table in a very loud way. She then shouted at Riku and stormed towards the others in a huff.

"Shall we?" Xexox asked as Kairi, then Riku, reached the group. The six silently started off through the halls, Xexox and Seig leading the way, the four teens following behind.

"How'd it go?" Anos asked as they walked.

"Okay I guess. I didn't reach my inner place though," Kairi said slightly irritated.

"I would be surprised if you had. It takes practice of just clearing your mind and finding your center before you can find your inner place," Riku said with a quick laugh.

"How long did it take you?" Kairi asked looking at her silver haired friend.

"Couple weeks. But I meditated for hours every day, and I had the time to do it," he replied with a shrug. Kairi nodded and looked ahead of her again.

The six were silent for a while before Riku caught up with Seig, "Hey Seig?"

"Yeah?" Seig asked without looking at Riku.

"Before, when we were leaving the Cathedral," Riku started, "that thing you said, about John's sword…"

"Phantasmagoria," Seig said nodding.

"Yeah, Phantasmagoria. When you said it, the White King said he didn't feel anything. What did he mean? What is Phantasmagoria?" Riku asked glancing at Seig.

"You know magic right?" Seig asked after a slight pause.

"What, you mean like Fire and Blizzard?" Riku asked looking at Seig confused.

"Yeah, like Fire. Do you know the stronger forms of the spells too?" Seig asked glancing sideways at Riku.

"Yeah, it goes Fire, Fira, then Firaga," Riku said counting off on his fingers.

"Right. Now what about Holy or Ultima?" Seig asked.

"Uh, I didn't know they had higher forms. I thought they were top level spells," Riku said, "but what does any of this have to do with…"

"I'm getting to that. Phantasmagoria is a spell. And as for Holy and Ultima, Holy is like Fire, and Ultima is Fira. That leaves Firaga to be Phantasmagoria," Seig said folding his arms behind his back.

"Then how come I've never heard of it before?" Riku asked after a slight pause.

"Because it's a mage only spell. Ultima's the most powerful spell anyone can use without a formal training. The thing is, the fourth forms of all the other spells are more powerful than it," Seig said with a slight laugh.

"Fourth forms?" Riku asked shocked and with a raised voice.

"Of course. You didn't think all magic was in the realm of the common person. There are quite a few spells anyone can do with a little training, but the vast majority is beyond that," Seig said slightly disappointed Riku hadn't figured this out yet.

"Okay, but what about what the White King said?" Riku asked getting back onto the original topic.

"Phantasmagoria is a very powerful spell, and is shakes the whole planet that it is cast on. If it is cast to often, it can break the planet irreversibly. John named his blade after the spell because he had it cast into the blade. That's why it works so well on things of the Darkness. Even the Nanos. But a word of warning, it is just as effective on those of the Light," Seig said as the group reached the Cathedral doors.

The White King and Queen were waiting at the altar as the group made there way towards them. Xexox closed the Cathedral doors when the group had entered and the six walked down the aisle in silence.

"So what's the big plan?" Sora asked when they reach the altar.

"Try and remove the keyblades, if you are able," Sakura said stepping aside to allow Sora to reach the table. He grabbed both keyblades, trying to pull they straight out, and turning them in their place together, then one at a time. Nothing worked, they didn't budge.

"Told you," Seig said as Sora apologized to the White Queen and stepped off the altar.

"It's not your fault dear," Sakura said reassuringly, "it simply means the keyblades in the Cathedral of the Black Castle are still in place, and have locked these here as well."

"And with that, I believe we can move on to the next item of necessity," Seig said stepping forward, his cane in his hand again.

"Which is?" Anos asked looking at Seig.

"We know they have your army now. And there might yet be power you hold over its forces, although minor," Seig said calmly turning to Anos.

"So they're gunna want to take me out," Anos said nodding his understanding.

"Yes. With you gone to other two Nanos have full, unquestioning control of the army. And as far as the forces of dark know, you're at the Grey Castle," Gandalf said stepping forward and speaking for the first time since they got there.

"So we have an advantage," Kairi said with a grin.

"Wrong. With no one there the Grey Castle will be overrun. We need to get there and prepare it for the attack. The White Castle will be fine, Darkness fears Light until nothing else is left," Seig said informatively.

"We're not taking the attack to them?" Riku asked confused.

"We can't. Or at least, with any chance of victory we can't," Xexox said with a shrug.

"We survived in there," Kairi protested.

"Barely. And you were only a small task force," Xexox retorted.

"So we got an army waiting at the Grey Castle?" Sora asked.

Before anyone could answer the doors opened and Yen Sid stepped inside a little ways, "things are ready at the Grey Castle. And the portal to the Dark Realm is back, there are no doubts that the army is currently crossing through."

"Then lets go," Xexox said starting towards Yen Sid, Seig and the others behind him.

As they moved towards Yen Sid Kairi noticed that Gandalf and Sakura weren't moving, "What about you?" she asked stopping and looking back.

"We are why the White Castle will be left standing. We must wait here," Sakura said with a small nod.

"And we are not fighters. It is why we need your help so dearly," Gandalf added sternly.

Kairi nodded back at them before continuing on. There others were gone except Xexox who was waiting just outside the Cathedral doors. When she reached him he held out his hand which Kairi took. After a moment of unpleasentness they were standing on the outer wall of the Grey Castle. The others were ahead of them and moving down towards the other Omegas.

"What's the status?" Bruxeus asked when the group reached him.

"Keys don't budge," Seig said flatly.

"And here?" Xexox asked.

"Place is as ready for the attack as we can get here. Not outside windows and only the one door, which Yen Sid already converted to the same stone as the walls and merged it seamlessly," Vaxer said gesturing the place the great doors used to be.

"Big job," Seig said glancing at the door.

"We must win," Yen Sid said simply.

"Didn't you used to not want to interfere? Isn't that why you had to use Gutts and Maleficent that one time?" Sora asked looking at the mage.

"This is why I didn't interfere. I didn't want to be spent before I got to this," Yen Sid said before walking towards the inner walls of the castle.

"You knew this was coming?" Kairi shouted at him as he walked away.

"All things come to an end. Era's are no different child, they just take longer," he said as he passed through a doorway and was out of sight.

"Do we have any eyes on them? Do we know how many they have, if they started marching yet, what their status is?" Seig asked turning to the Omegas.

"They're sill coming through the portal and their numbers are overflowing the crater. Based on how they seem to be lining up we will be their first target," Bruxeus said.

"How are you watching them?" Riku asked curiously.

"Falcon in the sky, psychic link," Vaxer said.

"Whoa, I didn't know you could do that," Sora said in surprise.

"They can't, it's Spitfire," Xexox said with a sigh.

"That's where he got off to," Seig said in slight relief.

"With them still bringing their forces out we have no way of knowing how big a force they're bringing, or how long we have till they get here," Vaxer said folding his arms.

"We know they're about a day, maybe a day and a half from us when they start to move, unless they use magic to speed themselves along," Xexox added.

"I know how many Nanos they'll bring. Unless that Sol guy changes their minds, Thal and Fos will try to bring every one they have. This castle seems to have some strategic value so taking it down is a heavy blow, they won't cut corners. And the point you said about me being a potential threat to them, it just adds to the reasons why they'd bring all they can," Anos said looking at Seig and the Omegas.

"How many Nanos are in that army?" Sora asked.

"Thousands. Hundreds of thousands. If they kept building the army after gaining control it might even be in the millions," Anos said drooping his head.

"And the odds this Sol guy got all of them through the portal?" Vaxer asked looking at Sora.

"High. Especially with the help of Fos and Thal. With them he could widen the portal and move large numbers at once," Sora said.

"He'd still be limited by the size of the Cathedral," Bruxeus offered.

"He's a high powered mage, he could probable open a trans-portal to outside the castle that's right in front of the one to the Nano world," Sora said with a shrug.

"Well, that would be the smart thing to do…" Seig said rubbing his chin.

"So what now? We wait?" Kairi asked crossing her arms.

"Until we get the word from Spitfire, yes. We wait," Seig said leaning on his cane.

Kairi glared at Seig for a moment before turning and heading inside the inner castle, "I'm gunna go meditate."

"Wow, she didn't yell," Vaxer said as he watched her walk away.

"She wasn't always like that you know," Sora said looking at the larger man.

"Oh I know. It's your fault," Vaxer said before starting to walk away.

"The whole necklace thing really affected her," Bruxeus said when Sora turned to him confused.

"She'll probably go back to normal when you lift that spell on her," Riku said trying to lift Sora's spirits.

"Damnit! We were just there," Sora suddenly shouted.

"Just where?" Anos asked confused.

"The White Castle. Sakura, the White Queen, she can lift this spell. I forgot to ask her," Sora said angry at himself.

"It's not her that has to lift it kid. She probably would have refused if you did ask," Seig said before vanishing. Sora looked around to yell at him but couldn't find the warrior, Riku noticed him reappear on the outer wall though.

-XXX-

It was four days later when Bruxeus busted through the door into the room where Sora, Riku and Anos were. The three boys were sitting and playing a card game and all looked up when Bruxeus came in, "Spitfire just reported; the army's on the move so get ready for the fight and meet in the courtyard," he said before heading back out the room.

"Took them long enough," Riku said as they all stood and started packing the game up.

"What's the rush though, I thought we had a day and a half before they would get here," Sora said confused.

"Guess we'll find out when we get to the courtyard," Riku said with a shrug.

The Omega's and Yen Sid were already there when the three boys arrived. Seig appeared moments after them. "Where's Kairi?" he asked the boys.

"Probably her room, meditating," Anos said pointing his thumb back towards where they came.

"She wasn't with you?" Bruxeus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nope," Riku said simply as he shook his head.

"What's the rush though, didn't you say we had a day and a half?" Sora asked looking at Seig.

"Yeah, unless they used magic. Guess what they're doing kid," Seig said agitated.

"So how long do we have then?" Yen Sid asked from behind Seig.

"Hour at most. Mainly depends on where Sol wants to drop them off and start the march on foot from," Seig said glancing back at the mage.

"I'll go get Kairi then," Anos said as he turned to head back where he came.

"No, we'll need you here," Seig said and Anos stopped and turned back, "you're the only one who knows anything about the Nanos, when they show, we'll need you to ID them for us."

"And they could show while he gets Kairi," Riku said nodding slowly before looking sideways at Sora, "got find her then Sora."

"Me?" Sora asked taking a step back.

"Just go kid, stop complaining about everything with the girl," Seig said as he summoned his cane to his hand and Spitfire rose form the ground behind him.

Sora sighed and ran back into the castle. He knew where Kairi's room was, and just hoped she was there meditating and not somewhere else. Of course, luck was not on his side as he reached her room to find the door open and not a Kairi in sight. Sora cursed under his breath as he started through the castle, thinking of all the places Kairi might be; places that might be good for meditation.

"How long do you think they'll take?" Xexox asked as he watched Sora run into the castle.

"Hopefully not too long, we're gunna need them in this fight," Seig said looking at where the door used to be.

They stood in silence for a while before Riku spoke up, "hey, I just thought, would they attack from behind? I know it would be a longer trip, but they got magic to move them," Riku said looking at the Omegas.

"No, there's less ways in at the back than the front. There used to be a door here, even by the magic it'll be the walls week spot," Vaxer said.

"That, and the walls are higher, it'll take more effort to take them down or get over them. Time we would be attacking from safety," Xexox added.

"Not to mention the unique geography of the planet," Seig said offhandly. When the others all stared at him he continued, "from the outside all walls are the front wall. It's like that for all three castles. Its something the Kings all set up and whoever Sol is I'm sure he knows it too," Seig said.

"How do you know that? I didn't know that," Xexox said looking at Seig with a shocked expression.

"I've been around longer than you have. I remember when all three castles were on this world, before Gandalf and… the Black King had their big dispute," Seig said without taking his eyes off the place where the door was, "and I remember when I first walked through those doors… so many years ago…"

"When was that?" Vaxer asked intrigued.

"Before the Dooms Wars. That's when everything changed," Seig said simply.

"Is that when the Era of Kings began?" Riku asked.

"It can be argued as such. If you believe it to be so then the time before would be the Era of Sleep, when everything was safe and cozy in its own shell," Seig said absently.

"And if we don't believe it to be the beginning of the Era of Kings?" Anos asked just as curious as the others.

"Then the Era of Kings started when time started. The time before the Dooms Wars would be the Age of Peace. The Wars themselves would be the Age of Trials, and from the Wars end would be the Age of Conflict," Seig answered.

"Peace, Trials, and Conflict of what?" Riku asked.

"The Kings. The time when the Kings were at peace and got along, when Gandalf called the Black King by his name. The time when their views split and their friendship was put through trials, trials it failed. And the time of conflict, when the Black King moved his castle and the prophecy of the Keymaster was made. Of course, if we go by that method we are currently in the fourth Age, the third having ended some years ago," Seig said leaning on his cane.

"What is the fourth age?" Vaxer asked.

"The Age of Resolution. From when the Keyblade Wars ended to now, and it will continue until the Era of Kings ends, which will be any day now, at the rate things are going," Seig said simply.

"How will the Era of Kings end?" Xexox asked.

Seig looked at Xexox straight in the eyes, "how does any conflict get resolved?"

There was a pause before the next question was asked, "you said Gandalf used to call the Black King by his real name. Sora calls him Jack, is that his real name or is it something else?" Riku asked.

Seig smirked and looked at Riku, "Jack's not his real name. his name's-" his answer was cut short by a loud blast from behind them.

"I think questions are done for now," Yen Sid said as they all turned to see the central tower of the castle, the tallest of the three towers, started to crumble at its mid point and the top collapsed on top of it, the weight crushing down onto the rest of the tower and brining it all the way to the ground.

Out of the rubble crawled a navy blue humanoid figure. It stood about six feet tall and had the same featureless form characterized by the Nanos. It was thin and lanky, its arms reaching its knees. It was covered in thin blade like spikes, one row along the back of each arm and leg and five rows along its back. There were three rows along the back of its head. The blades down the center of its back and head were the largest, with other large ones at the back of its elbows and wrists. Its hands only had two fingers, no thumbs.

"Oh hell, Razors," Anos said taking a step back from the creature.

-XXX-

Sora Ran through the halls of the castle, not even sure where he was in the place anymore. For all he knew he could be in the sub basements, he had gone up and down so many stairs. Finally, after he didn't know how long, he found her. Kairi was sitting in a large empty room facing a large bay window on the back wall in the same pose she was in when she meditated in the White Castle. Sora had been running around looking in every room of the castle and now he found her.

Slowly he made his way towards here, trying to be quiet as to not disturb her. Once he reached her he placed his hand on her shoulder-no response-and shook her slightly. Still no response. He shook her harder this time, and whispered her name. Now she moved, turning her head away from the sound and rolling her shoulder to make him let go.

Sora released her and stepped back. "Kairi the army's on the move, we gotta get ready, come on."

After a moment Kairi opened one eye and glared at Sora, "and you chose to be the one to bother me?" she asked harshly.

Sora faltered a moment, "Riku suggested it. And right now we don't have time for this, we gotta get back to them, I wasted enough time trying to find you," he said confidently and offering Kairi his hand to help her up.

Kairi closed her eye again and huffed before standing on her own, blatantly ignoring his hand. "Where are the others?" she asked once she was standing.

"The courtyard. Come on they're waiting for us," Sora said heading for the door and waving for Kairi to follow. When he noticed she wasn't moving he stopped and looked at her, "What is it now?" he asked curiously.

"You've met your other selves right? I know you have, I've met some of them too," Kairi said not looking at Sora, her eyes were on her Zanpakutou which she held in her hands.

"Yeah, I've met all seven of my other selves," Sora said nodding.

"How long did it take you to find them? How long did you have to meditate?" Kairi asked fastening the katana to her belt and looking at Sora, waiting for his answer.

"I don't know. I first went to that place the day before I found the keyblade and everything started with the heartless. But I didn't meet any of my other selves until I was in the pit when we came here to train. Time there moved differently than it does here, but it felt like weeks on end of constant meditation," Sora said as he scratched the back of his head in remembrance.

Kairi smirked, "I think I can do better than solid weeks," she said walking past Sora to the door.

Before Sora could respond everything started to move. The whole room, the whole castle was shaking. The room itself started to tip and tilt; both teens were knocked off their feet and were forced to give in to the will of the room.

"What's going on?" Kairi asked as she hit the ground and started to slide across the floor towards the window.

"The Nanos, they must be here, they're probably attacking now," Sora shouted as he tried to regain his feet, there was a loud noise coming from somewhere above them.

The room started to shift back to the way it was before and they could both hear the stone beneath loosing its grip and the sounds above of the stone being knocked out of place.

"Something's up there, weakening the structure," Sora said as he stood up.

"We have to get out of here, were in one of the towers Sora," Kairi shouted to the boy as she got to her feet.

"That thing'll bring it down, it could hit the others," Sora shouted back, as he took a few steps towards Kairi.

Kairi was looking out the window at the rest of the castle below, "I'm more worried about us at the moment," she shouted back.

"We gotta go Kairi!" Sora shouted trying to be heard over the noise. As he shouted the room shook again and the walls and ceiling started to crumble, the weight was too much; whatever the thing was doing it was working.

The wall with the door crumbled to and through the floor, the wreckage traced out from there with the ceiling taking the floor down. Sora saw the door vanish and made a run for Kairi only to see her tumble out of the window as the room lurched again. Sora didn't slow for a second and he dove through the window after Kairi. He looked down at her falling form, petrified terror all over her face.

Sora could tell he wouldn't reach her in time; the roof of another part of the castle was rising up to quickly to meet her. Without a second thought Ragnarok was in Sora's hand and he pointed it up shouting "Waterga" as a high powered blast of water shot from the tip pushing him down faster, closer to Kairi. As soon as Sora was within reach his keyblade vanished and he took hold of Kairi, holding her to his chest, wrapped in his arms, "don't worry, I got you, I'll protect you," he whispered before they made contact with the roof of the castle.

Sora had turned them in the air so that his back hit the castle and Kairi landed on him. The impact had brought Kairi from her terror trance and she was moving slowly, her whole body hurt from the landing. She looked at Sora and could see the pain on his face, but he wasn't moving, his arms still held her, although loosely. She could easily break free if she tried, but she hurt too much to try. His eyes were blinking and she could feel his chest rising and falling in shallow breaths, she knew he was alive, but he was hurt.

"Sora, are you okay?" Kairi asked, true worry in her voice.

Sora forced a smirk, "I've lived through worse," he managed to groan out. Then his eyes widened, he could see the tower and he saw as the upper layers, already falling when they exited the tower, over took the lower layers and the whole structure started to fall. And it wasn't a clean, straight down fall. It was tiling back slightly, right towards them.

"Sorry Kairi," Sora grunted out as he found strength from places he didn't know about and managed to roll over to be on top of Kairi.

"Sora! What the hell are you…Sora the tower!" Kairi shouted trying to point at the falling rubble, but Sora's boy blocked her.

"I said I got you," was all Sora got out before the tower fell on them, the impact sending them through the roof they were on and through a few floors too. The tower finally came to a rest after taking another part of the castle down with it. And after a few moments the Razor crawled its way out of the rubble to face Riku and the others.


	9. Trials of a Princess

Sorry for the long delay, hope this makes up for it

**Chapter 9: Trials of a Princess**

Kairi became aware of the cold hard surface she was lying on. She refused to open her eyes out of fear, the last thing she remembered was the tower falling and she was afraid of what she would see. After a moment she couldn't take the fear any longer and opened her eyes and immediately recognized the place she was in. it was Sora's inner place, but there were differences, and she had no idea how she would get here.

Kairi sat up and looked around, taking in the differences between this place and Sora's Cinderella pillar. This seemed to be a pillar too, the darkness beyond stretching into eternity and the only light coming form the floor itself. But the floor want stained glass, it was a solid silver stone pillar giving off a soft colorless light.

Kairi's first thought was that this was the Friendship pillar, being silver, and it wasn't until she heard the pair of footsteps behind her that she realized this wasn't Sora's inner place at all. Upon this realization Kairi shot to her feet and spun around to see the three others on the pillar.

The first was a woman dressed for success. She wore a blue skirt to her knees, a light blue blouse and a blue suit jacket the same color as the skirt. Her dress shoes were also blue and her hair was styled up and held in place by a single blue clip. She carried a white leather-bound book under her right arm that had a red heart on the cover and she wore a neutral expression on her face.

Beside her was a yellow clad woman. She wore a sunny yellow Sunday dress that went just past her knees. She had yellow dress shoes on and a yellow band on her right arm that went from her wrist to her mid-forearm. A singe red heart decorated the yellow band and her hair was tied back in a ponytail. She wore a pleasant smile on her face and walked towards Kairi side by side with the first woman.

The third woman wore silver gym shoes and silver cargo shorts that went to her mid-calf. She had a black belt with a white buckle and metal end that hung halfway to her knees. She wore a silver hooded sweatshirt that went just past her ribs leaving her mid-section bare, the long sleeves of the sweatshirt were pushed up past her elbows and the hood was down. She wore a silver knitted hat with a large red heart on its side. Her shoulder-length hair peaking out of the bottom of the hat.

The third woman was standing and watching Kairi, her hands clasped and held just below her chin as she bounced on her feet and wore an excited look on her face. All three women looked exactly like Kairi did only dressed differently. It was the same as with Anger, but it was a little creepier because it was seeing three copies of her instead of just one.

"So you're my inner selves," Kairi said before looking around her, "and this is my inner place."

"Correct," the blue clad Kairi said.

"This one is actually my pillar," the silver Kairi added still bouncing.

Kairi looked over at the silver Kairi then back at the pair approaching her. "I'm guessing you're Knowledge," she said pointing at the blue Kairi, "and you're Friendship," she said pointing at the silver one.

The blue Kairi nodded in the affirmative when Kairi guessed her name while the silver Kairi gave a yell of "yippee!" before running at Kairi and embracing her in a big hug.

Once Friendship let Kairi go and stepped back to give her space the other two reach them and stood near Friendship. "My name is Truth," the yellow Kairi said with a polite nod that Kairi returned.

"I'm sorry if I seem rude… but I've really wanted to come here ever since I learned of it," Kairi said after a pause as she looked around again.

"It's quite alright," Truth said keeping her smile.

"Really?" Kairi asked looking back at the three.

"Truth can't tell a lie. Part of being truth and all," Friendship said clapping a hand on Truth's shoulder.

Kairi smirked, "So do I have seven pillars or eight like Sora?"

"Eight. Your eighth is white," Knowledge said simply.

Kairi nodded her understanding, "can I meet the others? I've already met Anger, and Sora's Knowledge said there was one that was trapped."

"Yes, of your seven, you have embraced six. However, the one who was trapped still is, so you may only meet two more aside from us, one is Anger and the other will arrive shortly," Truth said looking at Kairi and glancing at Knowledge a few times.

"Can I ask how my body is doing? Sora's Knowledge said that if I were dieing I wouldn't be able to move here, so can you tell me my situation?" Kairi asked as she seated herself on the floor, Friendship copying her immediately.

"You are alive and not suffering from a mortal wound, that it true," Truth said as she and Knowledge also sat down.

"But beyond that, we cannot say anything," Knowledge said.

"So… what do I do while I'm here then? I know time moves differently, is there something I can do while I'm here? Riku told me that to master my Zanpakutou I had to come here, what do I have to do?" Kairi asked looking around her, her eyes finally resting on Truth.

Knowledge sighted as she pulled her book out and opened to the middle, "about your Zanpakutou, this is where you come, and we can help you, but only one of us. You have to figure out which one and the right way to ask on you own," she said before looking up at Kairi.

"Well…" Kairi said putting a hand on her chin and looking down, "my Zanpakutou is a sword, which is combat. So it probably won't be any of you… maybe Anger?" she asked looking at Knowledge and Truth in confusion.

Both managed to keep straight faces but Friendship burst out laughing in a matter of moments. Before Kairi could question her on this there was the sound of two sets of feet landing on the pillar. Kairi spun around to see the newcomers. One was Anger who gave a quick look around the pillar before walking towards the group; the other waited for Anger to do her look and walked beside her.

She was dressed from neck to foot in well formed red plate-mail armor. The armor jangled slightly as she walked and she wore a stern look on her face. There was a red handled sword on her left hip and two blades crossed on her back, one a katana the other Kairi's keyblade. Over the two blades and facing outwards was a silver shield shaped like a diamond and bearing a large red heard on the center of it. She, like all the others, looked identical to Kairi, except for two things. One was that her hair was much shorter, Kairi assumed to prevent it from getting in the way in a fight, and the other was a single scar along her left cheek.

When the two reached Kairi and the others Kairi had already risen to her feet to welcome them. "Anger, glad to see you again," she said offering her hand which Anger smiled and nodded at before sitting beside Friendship.

"You'll get used to that," the armored Kairi said watching Anger sit down.

"I suppose I will. What's your name?" Kairi asked offering her hand now to the red Kairi.

"Courage," the red Kairi said taking Kairi's hand. "I've been waiting to meet with you," she added as the two released each others hands.

"Really? Any real reason why?" Kairi asked as she sat back down, after a moment Courage did the same.

"You're a good fighter. But you let a few to many things distract you on the battlefield," Courage said sternly.

Kairi smirked slightly, "so you're my war hero personality. I suppose I should take all measures to be sure I ignore everything but the fight when in a battle then?" she asked with slight irritation.

"Wrong on all counts. Ignore nothing when in a battle, but know what value each thing holds. I mention the distractions because you give things that don't mater higher precedence than things that do. And I am no war hero, neither are you," Courage said informatively.

There was silence for a moment before Kairi broke it, "I'm sorry but I have to know, how did you get that scar?"

Friendship slapped her had over her mouth, either to suppress laughter or out of shock none of the others knew. Truth sighed and Knowledge put her face in her palm while Anger smirked waiting for the answer. At first Kairi thought she was smirking because of the question asked, but when Courage spoke Kairi knew Angers smirk was because of the answer.

"I received this scar when you embraced me. In the Castle that Never Was, when you first fought for yourself and others, knowing you didn't have what it took to win, but fighting anyway. One of the countless heartless you fought that day gave you a gash across you cheek, yours healed and my scarred," Courage said simply.

There was silence again before, "was that the first time I was in the Castle that Never Was, or the time with the Betas?" Kairi asked.

"The first time," Courage replied.

For the third time silence overtook the six, and for the third time it was Kairi that broke the silence, "so about my Zanpakutou," she said smirking and the other five looked at her, each with a mixture of confusion and humor save Knowledge and Courage, each had a straight face.

"I'm supposed to figure out which of you to ask for help with it, and I'm pretty sure it's you, Courage," Kairi said.

After a quick glance at Knowledge Courage nodded, "I am the one who would help you," she said as she nodded.

"Now I just need to figure out the right way to ask you," Kairi said to herself as she stood up and started pacing.

As she stood the others did the same, Friendship giving Courage a hand and Anger muttering about having to stand. After a moment Kairi stopped and turned to look at Courage she reached her right hand to her left hip where she normally wore her Zanpakutou and drew the blade out of the air.

"She's getting the hang of this place pretty fast," Knowledge said with a smirk.

"Courage, I challenge you to a duel for the training of my Zanpakutou," Kairi said sternly as she took a fighting stance.

Courage smirked and nodded as she drew the katana from her back which revealed itself to also be Kairi's Zanpakutou. As Courage dropped into her fighting stance the other sword, keyblade, and shield all vanished to grant a fair fight," I accept your challenge, we will only fight with your Zanpakutou and should you win, I will tell and teach you all that I can," Courage said with a straight face.

"This'll be good," Anger said with a smirk as Kairi and Courage charged towards each other.

-XXX-

"Easy enough," Seig said walking towards the Razor holding the end of his cane and resting it on his shoulder.

The others just watched as the Razor charged Seig who maintained his easy pace. When the Razor leaped at Seig he stopped walking and when it was within range he swung his cane down fast. The Razor hit the ground in two pieces, split form right shoulder to left hip. Seig turned to face the others and brought his cane back up to rest on his shoulder, but it wasn't a cane anymore. It was now a katana style sword, the handle was grayish silver and the blade a pure white.

"I think I may have underestimated the tactical abilities of our enemies," Seig said before jumping and leaping over everyone's heads to land on the outer wall overlooking the army before them.

The others were quick to join him on the wall and they all saw the immense force that moved towards them. "Here it comes," Riku said as he drew Phantasmagoria.

"Do any of you Omega's know magic?" Seig asked as he watched the army move.

"Yeah, why?" Xexox asked confused.

"Anos, would Thal and Fos be more likely to use a wave or overrun tactic in a siege situation?" Seig asked ignoring Xexox's question.

"Wave, unless Sol would persuade them otherwise," Anos said.

"I'm thinking that doubtful. Are there any Nanos that are immune to magic?" Seig asked still surveying the coming forces.

"The Magefists absorb basic elemental magic. They can also cast it. They're the only ones that can do that, they're also the only multicolored ones," Anos said looking among the Nanos for a Magefist to point out.

"Riku, go back to the ground, take out any others hurled over the wall, Omega's and Anos, cast any magic you know to keep them from reaching the wall, watch the elements and the Magefists. Yen Sid, you know what to do," Seig said confidently as his sword vanished and he closed his eyes and took a calm stance.

Riku nodded slightly and jumped off the wall to the ground, ready for anything that would come his way. The Omega's looked at Seig in confusion but did as he said, all three completely unaware of whatever Seig was planning. Yen Sid simply nodded and closed his eyes as well, taking a stance identical to Seig's. Anos looked at the others, the Omega's hurling spells at the Nanos, Riku waiting for something he hoped wouldn't come, Seig and Yen Sid preparing for something.

Anos didn't know what to do, he didn't know any magic. At least not any offensive magic. He was a healer, the only spell he knew that could hurt others was poison, and it had a short range, which would affect his allies and not his enemies. So he simply stood there, wondering what was going to happen, what Seig was thinking, and why a wave tactic mattered.

After a few moments Seig and Yen Sid opened their eyes and performed quick graceful motions in perfect unison. As they did this the sky, which had been relatively cloudless quickly became heavily overcast, the clouds and sky beyond them turned a dark foreboding red as lightning shot amongst the clouds.

"What the hell are they doing?" Bruxeus asked looking at the sky.

"Ending things," Xexox said watching the sky with a smirk.

As one Seig and Yen Sid swept their right arm towards the nearing army and shouted "Meteor!" On the command of the two casters hundreds of large rocks came hurling from the sky, breaking through the clouds in a fearful show of force that shattered the lightning and sent bolts in every direction, several hitting the ground and Nanos on it. The spray of rocks covered the whole force of Nanos breaking their ranks and scattering them and their body parts everywhere. After countless rock fell two impossibly large boulders broke through the clouds, dissipating the lightning and overcast. The boulders fell in near unison side by side and shook the ground and castle when they hit the planet.

The only sound was the rumbling of the ground and stone on stone for the longest time after the last two impacts. Everyone just stood and waited, watching the smoke to see what would be left. Riku returned to the top of the wall when the rocks started to fall and stood beside Anos, both in shock and awe at Seig and Yen Sid. When the smoke was gone so were the meteorites, but the burnt and disfigured bodies of the Nanos remained, as did the craters they left.

"That was amazing," Anos said still in shock, he was the first to break the silence.

"It was only the first wave," Seig said turning from the damaged field to look at Yen Sid who nodded and began walking away.

"What do you mean? So what if it was the first, we can do it again and again to all the waves after it right? How many waves of them can they throw at us?" Bruxeus asked with a smirk as he looked at all the dents in the ground.

"There's going to be three waves, right?" Seig said, he looked at Anos to confirm his statement.

"Yeah, that's the idea Thal likes most, Fos tends not to care so much about the how as long as it gets done," Anos said nodding.

"Only three, then we're set," Bruxeus said grinning.

"No. The three wave tactic isn't just three sets of mindless brutes. The first wave is the smallest and has a specific task. Like weaken the wall, or bring down a tower. Something to make the complete overrun easer for the second wave. That's the one we have to worry about, it's the biggest, sometimes forming with the first to increase in size. That's the one that really takes us down. The first wave kept moving at their pace, letting us hit them multiple times before we let out the big attack. That's because it's a suicide wave, they're not expected to make it back, just get the job done and die.

"But the second wave, if we start sending out spells they'll return in kind. And move towards us faster, making the big spells a greater risk to use. That's the force we really have to worry about. At lest under normal circumstances," Seig said sitting on the ledge of the wall and looking at the others.

"Are we under normal circumstances?" Xexox asked the question Seig was baiting for.

"No. Yen Sid has left to prepare our response to the second wave. We simply have to be sure to notice them before they get to close for it to work," Seig said simply as he nodded in the direction Yen Sid left in.

"So what about the third wave?" Riku asked crossing his arms.

"That's the one we want. The third wave is the one consisting of everyone left at the camp when the first two waves move out. The ones who stay back as guards or to do the menial tasks. As well as the heads of the army," Seig said with a smirk.

"Thal and Fos," Anos said nodding.

"As well as any of the other inner circle members Sol may chose to send. Sol'll probably show himself even," Seig said nodding.

"How are you so sure?" Vaxer asked.

"The inner circle is the best the army has to offer, in some cases, this being one of them, they alone are an army. If the second wave, which is the bulk of the mobile forces are taken out they will show themselves to personally see that the fortress is brought down," Seig said simply.

"So that's the wave we have to worry about, because any big spell you or Yen Sid could unleash could be canceled by Sol," Riku said nodded.

"Not entirely canceled, but he would lessen them to the point of it being a waist of the energy," Seig said standing back up.

"Even Meteor?" Xexox asked.

"I'm not good enough to let that one out too often, and Yen Sid has bigger things on his plate that will prevent him from doing it again. So anything we could feasibly unleash on the third wave would be rendered near useless," Seig said simply.

"So what do we do now?" Anos asked looking at the Omega's and Seig.

"Rest up, we have at least six hours before the second wave gets here," Seig said as he started towards the stairs down from the wall, "we should probably find Sora and Kairi to let them know what's going on too," he added as an after thought.

-XXX-

Kairi's whole body was sore and she was breathing heavily. She had shallow cuts pretty much all over her body and a few deep ones on her left arm and her sides. She held her Zanpakutou in both hands in front of her, her stance was slightly slacking, but she could bring it up at a moments notice.

Standing across from her was Courage, also breathing heavily but her stance was still perfect. Kairi had managed to land almost as many hits on Courage as Courage had on her, but only one of Kairi's hits made it past Courage's armor. Kairi managed to land a single hit between two of the armor plates on Courage's left elbow. Throughout the fight Courage had been asking Kairi questions about seemingly random things. These questions brought on ones Kairi had which she would ask and Courage would answer.

This exchange happened back and forth constantly from the start of the fight, and its seemingly pointlessness was boring enough to override the excitement of a fight in Angers opinion, who had left after only a few minutes of the exchange. Knowledge, Friendship and Truth remained and watched the entire duel.

"So how long do you wish this duel to go on?" Courage asked as she charged forward.

Kairi returned the charge, "as long as it takes for you to decide to teach me about my Zanpakutou."

The two exchanged blows, most of which the other managed to block. "I can fight forever," Courage responded confidently.

"No one can fight forever," Kairi said as she kicked Courage's knee and hit her in the right side sending her rolling on the floor.

Courage quickly got to her feet and resumed her stance, "you have been listening to me," she said with a smirk.

"Why would I ignore you, you're part of me," Kairi said simply as she too fell back into her stance.

Before either said or did anything else the whole place began to shake. Courage quickly dropped to a knee to better stabilize herself while Kairi was looking around, "What's going on?" she asked looking at Knowledge and the others.

"The outside world is affecting this one," Truth answered.

"What happened?" Kairi asked as she, too, knelt down as the shaking became more violent.

"It appears you are beginning to awaken," Courage replied simply.

"Time moves differently, but it never stands still," Knowledge added.

Kairi turned back to look at her, "what should we do about our duel? About my Zanpakutou?" she asked as she tried to prevent herself form falling on her face.

"I have already told and taught you everything I can during this fight. Everything but the name of you blade," Courage said simply.

"The name?" Kairi asked confused.

"It's how you release its power. Giving a set command and calling out its name," Knowledge answered from behind Kairi.

"What's the command? What's my swords name?" Kairi asked as the pillar started to tilt and gravity started pulling Kairi towards the edge.

Kairi tried desperately to hold onto the smooth surface as she slid down it, she barely noticed that her other selves weren't moving; they simply stuck to the pillar. "You already know the name and the command, you just have to remember," Knowledge said as Kairi reached the edge.

"It shouldn't be that hard," Truth said just before Kairi was gone, it was the last thing she heard before she was surrounded by the darkness and the shaking intensified and was joined by a loud rumbling.

At once all the pain from the fight with Courage was gone and Kairi felt good as new, only to be hit by considerably more pain covering more of her body. She didn't even realize that she stopped falling; she simply noticed that she was lying on her stomach on a hard uneven surface and the shaking and rumbling was gone.

Kairi forced her eyes open to see nothing but darkness. After a few moments her eyes adjusted and she could barely make out the shapes around her. She was buried in rubble, but large pieces directly above her had formed a kind of ceiling about three feet above her current position.

Kairi looked around the little space she had, turning over to see it all better and knocking the small rubble that was on top of her over. After a moments glance around she remembered Sora and quickly started a more determined search of her surrounding to find him.

After what felt like hours of looking she found him, or rather, his hand. Without hesitation she stared clearing away the ruble above the hand to reveal the rest of the teen lying face down. When his head was cleared off Kairi checked for signs of life and gave a sigh of relief when she felt a weak pulse.

Kairi wasn't sure why she was so determined to find and save Sora, maybe it was because she knew they'd need his help in the fight or because he saved her before and she wanted to return the favor so that she would no longer be in debt to him. Whatever the reason Kairi didn't slow or stop in her removal of rubble. She had cleared off Sora's upper body when she stopped for the first time.

She didn't stop because she was tired, she was, she just didn't realize she was, or because her body was sore, which it was, but she was just ignoring it. Kairi stopped because the chunks of castle that had fallen of the lower half of Sora's body were far too large for Kairi to move on her own.

This meant it was time for part three of her rescue plan. Part one was finding Sora. Part two was making sure he was still alive and helping as best as she could. Now it was time to get them out of there. She wanted to just let out a large spell that would blast away the rubble. The only problem is she didn't know how deep in the rocks they were, or if the blast would send more rock tumbling down on top of them.

It's the same reason she hasn't cast a Cure spell on Sora, they tend to have guests of wind accompany them when unleashed through a keyblade, and that was the only means of casting Kairi had. Kairi started to crawl around the small enclosure looking for any way out. Every time she found a place where the bits of castle were small enough to move they shortly led into bits that were too big to move.

It didn't feel like too long before Kairi had tried everywhere in the space they had. She made her way back to where Sora was and checked his pulse again, it was getting weaker. She started to consider casting Cure and just deal with the results. That's when the ground started to shake and a loud rumbling came from the other side of the pile of broken castle.

At first Kairi thought she was waking up again, but this was the real world, something was happening, something big. Shortly after the ground started to move the rubble started to move as well. Destiny's Promise was in her hand in the blink of and eye and Kairi shouted "Protect!" as she pointed the tip of the blade upward and moved forward to cover Sora's body with her own. Once the spell was cast Kairi sent the blade away and waited for the ground to stop shaking and preyed she'd make it out of this.

The shaking went on for what felt like hours and ended in a jolt that made Kairi loose the small cushion of air between her body and Sora's as she fell full force on top of him. After the ground had stopped shaking Kairi didn't move; partly because her stomach hurt from colliding with Sora and partly because she could hear the rubble still moving. After the sound of the falling rocks was gone Kairi opened here eyes and looked around. The small enclosure she had before was gone. Protect had worked and kept any rocks form landing on her or Sora's upper half, and when the spell was lifted a few small rocks bounced off her.

Kairi started to push herself up, the bubble of Protect had given her about a foot of room to move in, and when she looked around completely her heart skipped a beat. She could see light coming in. When the rubble moved it opened a path for light to get in, which Kairi was sure she could use to get herself out. She checked Sora again, he was still alive, but barely, and his lower half was still completely covered meaning she'd have to leave him here and get someone else to help get him out.

Kairi turned her eyes towards the light and slowly started making her way towards it. She only moved as much rubble as she had to, careful to not cause any to fall and hit her, Sora, or cover the light. Slowly but surely she moved and finally reached the light. It was a small hole, and from what she could tell it would be a climb to get out too.

Kairi made quick work of making the opening big enough to fit through and looked up at the roughly five feet of rubble she would have to climb to really be out. It was completely open at the other end, and the tunnel there was just large enough for Kairi to squeeze through and she gave a large sigh of relief as she grabbed the top edge of the tunnel and pulled her head out.

She looked around at the castle before her; Yen Sid was walking through the courtyard to the second tower while the others were all on the outer wall at the front of the castle. Kairi quickly hoisted herself out of the rubble and started towards them, moving as fast as her tired, sore legs would let her move. She saw Seig on the stairs down form the outer wall and nearing the bottom.

"Seig!" Kairi shouted not slowing or stopping, "Seig quick! Help!"

Everyone turned their heads towards Kairi when she shouted. Seig froze in place, either in terror or surprise no one knew, but Riku responded. "Kairi! What happened?" he asked as he jumped down from the wall.

Kairi stopped running when she saw Riku coming towards her, "We were in the tower when it fell..."

"We?" Seig asked snapping out of it.

"Sora, he's still buried, I couldn't get all the rubble off of him," Kairi said looking at Seig and pointing behind her.

"Is he alive?" Seig asked as he quickly moved towards Kairi.

"He was just before I crawled out," Kairi said as Seig reached her.

Seig grabbed Kairi around the waist with his left arm and lifted her off the ground, an instant later they were standing on a pile of the rubble, "Where?" he asked.

Kairi looked around her, she found the hole she crawled out of and saw the others behind her as Seig set her down, "there," she pointed at the hole, "and Sora's at least five feet down and a few feet back," Kairi said as Seig started towards the hole.

Seig nodded and glanced back at Kairi, "is he conscious?" Kairi didn't answer, she just shook her head. "Go and get Anos, if he's not already coming, I'll get Sora out," Seig said as he started to move the rubble with ease.

The last thing Kairi remembered was watching Seig move the rocks away with little to no effort before she turned to get Anos when everything when black.


	10. Siege on the Grey Castle

Sorry for the long delay, hope the extra long chapter makes up for it, enjoy

**Chapter 10: Siege of the Grey Castle**

Kairi woke up in a small room. There were two beds separated by a bedside table with a lamp on it. The door to the room was in the middle of the wall opposite the beds. Kairi was in the left hand bed and when she woke up she was instantly annoyed.

She didn't remember passing out, and she never went to her inner place, both facts irked her. She looked around the room lazily but when she tried to sit up she was wracked with intense pain. Everything below her neck was screaming in outrage at her attempt to move. The sudden pain surprised her and she let out a quick scream. Moments later the door opened and Bruxeus walked in and stood at her bedside.

"Awake I see, how you doing?" he asked giving Kairi a once over.

"Everything below my chin hurts," Kairi groaned out though the pain, "what happened?"

"You passed out. You must have exhausted yourself to near nothing trying to get out, as soon as Seig started digging you turned around and started to fall. Riku managed to catch you before you hit ground and I brought you here to rest," Bruxeus said sitting on the other bed.

"How long have I been out?" Kairi asked looking at Bruxeus, the pain was subsiding.

"About an hour. Seig got Sora out and as far as I know Anos is healing him now. Seig cast a few cures on you, but I'll let him know your still in pain," Bruxeus said standing up.

Kairi nodded and thanked him as he left. Once he was gone she turned to look straight ahead at the ceiling. Her mind was on what Bruxeus said, she was out for an hour and Anos was still healing Sora. It would have taken Seig at most fifteen minutes to get Sora out; those big rocks would be nothing to him and the Omegas. That meant 45 minutes of healing, how badly injured was he? And how bad would she be if he hadn't protected her?

Her thoughts carried on like this for a few minutes before Bruxeus came back with Seig in tow. "How bad is the pain?" he asked.

"I can't move anything because it hurts too much," Kairi answered annoyed.

"Curaga it is then," Seig said confidently before casting the spell and causing green mist to appear from nowhere and fall on Kairi.

After a few moments Kairi sat up with a slight smirk, "Thanks, I feel a lot better."

"Good, but don't overdo it, you still need to rest, we got about five hours before the next wave hits, but you should be able to sit that one out," Seig said patting Kairi's foot and turning to leave.

"How do you know how long it will take?" Kairi asked leaning forward in the bed.

Seig stopped and looked back at her, "Estimations from Spitfire's initial reports of the first wave. Confirmed by his reports of this one," Seig said simply before leaving.

Kairi turned to Bruxeus, "what happened while I was buried and why won't I be needed for the second wave?"

-XXX-

Sora suddenly became aware of himself. He was lying on a bed in a small room. The room had two beds separated by a bedside table with a lamp on it. The door was in the middle of the wall opposite the beds. Sora was in the left bed and a chair in the corner at the foot of his bed held a sleeping Riku. As his eyes continued to travel around the room he saw that a similar chair in the corner at the foot of the other bed held a sleeping Anos. Sora could also tell there was someone in the other bed, but the lamp blocked him from telling who it was.

The last thing he remembered was covering Kairi as the tower came down on them. He could only hope that since he was alive she was too. Sora let out a slight groan as he tried to sit up but his torso screamed in protest and refused to move. Quickly checking to be sure he didn't wake the two in the chairs Sora resolved to just lie on his back until someone came in to check on him.

"Finally awake?" a voice called from the other bed, a voice Sora knew instantly.

"Kairi?" Sora asked in a whisper, not wanting to wake the others.

"The one and only," Kairi replied with a small laugh.

"Are you okay? What happened after the tower fell, did you get hurt?" Sora asked turning towards Kairi but only seeing the lamp.

"I'm fine; Seig said I just need to take it easy. And we got buried under the tower, but because you covered me I managed to get myself out and the others got you out," Kairi whispered back.

"I'm glad you're okay," Sora said meekly. He was happy she managed to get herself out, but it hurt that she left him buried.

"Yeah. How are you legs, they were buried under some heavy rocks I couldn't budge 'em," Kairi asked simply.

Sora smiled to himself, she had just wiped away his hurt, "I don't know, I can't really feel anything below my neck, but they look normal from here."

There was silence for a long time before Kairi finally asked the question burning in her mind, "Why?" she demanded.

"Why what?" Sora asked completely confused.

"Why everything? Why were you Siv? Why did I have to carry that charm? Why were your other selves inside it? Why are you always so weird around me?" Kairi said in a rush, one question flowing right into the next. After a pause, before Sora had the chance to answer she added, "Why did you save me from the tower?"

There was another pause before Sora spoke, "my other selves were in the charm to save me the pain of being stranded in the Dark Realm, being without them turned me into Siv. I don't know why you had the charm but I think Sakura does," he paused here too, he was afraid to tell her. After everything else that had happened between them since he came back to himself, he was afraid of how she would take it. "And I… I think, I hope you already know why I saved you from the tower," he said, still to afraid to say it.

Kairi looked at him, but the lamp blocked his face, "does that mean you admit to having a hero complex?" she demanded.

"No I… I saved you because…" Sora's heart was racing; his eyes went from the lamp blocking Kairi's face to Riku to Anos, the latter two still sleeping, and back to the lamp. He wanted to say it, he wanted to since he first saw her again after composing himself, but she hated him. He was afraid of the rejection, he found eternal absence and emptiness somehow more bearable, but he had to say it now, "Because I love you Kairi, because I've loved you since I first met you, even when I didn't know what love was, or that I was helplessly in its grasp."

There was a pause while Sora's words registered in Kairi's mind before a bright white light emitted from her as the spell broke and there was a pause of silence afterwards as well. Sora wasn't sure what the light was, but he had a guess and was hopeful, but he waited for Kairi to talk before giving in to hope.

"Sora… did you just say that you love me?" Kairi asked in a slightly confused tone.

"Yeah, I think I did. Why? Is something wrong?" Sora asked instantly worried.

"No, everything fine, it's like a haze around my mind just evaporated and… and I love you too Sora," Kairi said finally a laugh to her voice.

"Really?" Sora asked trying to sit up, his pain kept him down but he was too happy to voice it.

"Yes really, and it's about time," Riku said sitting up.

"Is this what you've been waiting for the whole time?" Anos asked sitting up also.

"Yeah, told you he'd come around," Riku said with a smirk towards Anos and ignoring the looks of shock and embarrassment he was getting from Sora and Kairi.

"How long have you two been awake?" Kairi demanded looking back and forth between the two.

"Just after your conversation started," Anos said simply.

"I was never asleep, I was hoping this would happen and I didn't want to miss it," Riku said with a full grin.

"What kind of person are you?" Sora asked half joking.

"Well, now you two are finally in love Kairi'll be your girlfriend, so I guess I'm the kind of person who just got bumped up to your best friend," Riku said, his grin only widening.

Sora's face reddened at the mention of Kairi being his girlfriend but Kairi just smiled back at Riku. There was a general silence for a while, the only noise being Sora mumbling about Riku and Anos pretending to be asleep.

After a while of letting Sora mumble Anos turned to Riku, "I think we embarrassed them enough, I think we should head out and leave them alone."

"I don't think we can ever embarrass Sora to much, but I guess I'll follow you out," Riku said with a last smirk at Sora before the two left the room and shut the door behind them.

The silence that remained was deafening. The conversation would have flowed seamlessly if Riku hadn't interrupted but now Sora was having trouble finding where to begin.

"What do we do now?" Kairi asked voicing Sora's confusion.

"I don't know. Riku kind of threw the conversation off when he 'woke up' there," Sora said in a lost tone.

"No, not about us, we're dating. I mean how are we going to get rid of your pain if I'm too drained to stand, let alone heal you, and our friends just left without handling the problem," Kairi said thoughtfully.

"Wait What? We're dating?" Sora said confused.

Kairi reached over and took the lamp off the table and set it on the ground so she could see Sora, "of course we are. Unless you want to propose now, then we can be engaged; but I'll have to warn you I don't want to get married until this whole mess is over," Kairi said confidently.

After a short pause Sora looked at Kairi with a confused look, "did I miss something?"

"Probably, but don't worry, I'll fill you in on everything," Kairi said with a giggle.

-XXX-

Seig sat on the outer wall above where the door once was staring out at where the army would come from. He held a small ring case in his left hand and was absently opening and closing it, unaware of the fact the case was empty and the ring was in his right fist. Spitfire had returned from his scouting a short while ago and was currently wandering around the castle at his leisure.

Seig sighed as he mulled over the information he had just received. The army would reach them in less than two hours and was almost three times larger than he had initially thought. Seig never knew how bad thing were when he saw this through another's eyes. He absently wished he could have seen it through his own eyes, but that was an impossibility.

His only hope was in the reassurance that Yen Sid kept giving him, knowing the major events and acting accordingly will not alter the events greatly. This was combated by the simple fact that there were events happening, things he would have called major that Yen Sid may not have, that he doesn't remember. Seig was afraid that he had already done some act that altered things, making everything one big unknown.

If that was true then the ending he knew of wasn't assured, the survivors he saw may die, and the forces he remembered may be increased. Seig was perfectly fine not knowing what was going to happen, it's how he lived every part of his life until this mess started. But he knew this was the most important thing he'd ever do, this is why he did what he had to, not what he wanted to, at every step along the way. And now his set in stone ending was crumbling.

-XXX-

Kairi sat on the outer wall of the castle above what was once the front door. She was idly chatting with the Omegas as they waited for the army to arrive, according to Seig it would be less than half an hour from now. Anos and Riku were with Sora fixing him up so he could move and walk. Yen Sid hadn't been seen since he entered the castle after the first wave and Seig was somewhere in the castle as well.

Kairi was really interested in knowing what was going to happen with the second wave, but none of the Omegas knew either, and when Riku and the others arrived, Sora being half carried between Riku and Anos, none of them knew Seig's plan either. The seven of them sat on the outer wall waiting as time ticked away, doing random and frequent checks to see if the army had arrived yet.

After a while Spitfire appeared on the wall having come from outside the castle. Xexox stood and looked out and the emptiness to find the army in sight. They were ten minutes away at their current pace.

"They're here, Riku get Seig, Anos get Yen Sid," Xexox said looking back at the two boys.

"No need," Seig's voice called up from the courtyard.

Everyone looked down to see Seig walking confidently towards them with Yen Sid a few paces behind. "Are you ready for whatever you're doing?" Bruxeus asked as he and the others got to their feet, Sora leaning against the rise on the wall.

"Indeed," Yen Sid said simply as he and Seig climbed the stairs.

"He'll handle everything, all we have to do is watch and pick off any stragglers that may make it through, but I doubt that'll happen," Seig said as they reached the others and Spitfire reformed into his shadow.

"They're about ten minutes away at their current pace," Vaxer said as Yen Sid surveyed the approaching forces.

"Whenever you're ready," Seig said simply and Yen Sid nodded.

Yen Sid stood at the center of the wall and shut his eyes taking in a deep breath. He started going through gestures and motions evident of high level powerful magic. His breathing was very regular and his movements graceful as they flowed one into the next. All eyes were watching the approaching army expectantly to see what spell Yen Sid would unleash.

The clear sky of the early evening started to lighten as if the sun were rising again. At the same time the earth itself started to darken as if the sky was horribly overcast. Once the sky was as bright as it would be at noon it broke and dissipated showing the fullness of the spars and space beyond the atmosphere. The break happened in the sky above the center of the Nano forces and spread outward like a sickly infection. Sora was sure it would reach itself on the other side of the planet in moments.

When the break in the sky happened Yen Sid raised his right hand, palm flat and vertical, towards the approaching army. His eyes were still closed and his features were calm, his graceful movements had stopped and everyone was silent as they waited for what he was about to do.

"Phantasmagoria," Yen Sid said quietly.

Almost instantly after speaking the work a large burst of wind shot forth from Yen Sid towards the army, Sora nearly falling over from the backlash of it. The eyes watching the army could see that the wind had reached them, but had no effect. The force slowly increased until it was suddenly a gale force rush pushing from Yen Sid's unmoving frame towards the oncoming army.

Seig and the Omegas stood unmoving behind Yen Sid, but the others were having trouble keeping their feet under the wind pressure. As they watched the gale winds slowed then stopped the army from moving forward, although the Nanos were still marching, they were making no progress. Sora watched in amazement as pieces of the Nanos broke off under the wind, an arm at the elbow, a wing at the shoulder, a leg at the knee; all of these flew from their owners into the air to where the sky broke.

As the pieces ascended into the sky Sora realized that it wasn't a wind pushing, it was a vacuum pulling. The pieces broke off not just from the front of the army, but from the sides and the back, and even some Nanos completely lost their footing and rose in completeness as well. As the broken parts ascended upwards they broke down more until they were no larger than a marble. They reached the sky and started revolving around the empty space the crack began at, the marbles formed a spiral form, it almost looked like a miniature galaxy.

Everyone watched in amazement as the miniature galaxy grew larger and larger as more and more marble sized broken pieces of Nanos joined the spiral, as the forces behind the pulling winds grew stronger. Without any warning large chunks of the earth broke from the ground, the separated pieces joining the spiral as well. These breaks happened at once, countless fractures scattered around the army, nearly all outside the area the Nanos took up, though a few were within the ranks.

Shortly after the chunks of earth were broken off and almost immediately after they had broken down and joined the spiral streams of molten magma rose form the cracks. One stream came form each break and they ascended right into the sky, into the center of the spiral, where there was a large opening. The magma pooled together at the center of the spiral forming a large sphere before fanning out and filling the space above the spinning marbles.

The rivers of lava stopped flowing and the magma in the sky filled the space at the center of the spiral as well as covered the top of it. The powerful winds died down and the pieces of the Nanos stopped breaking off and the last of the marbles joined the rest in the miniature galaxy that floated above the army. The magma that floated above the spiral started to lower and integrate into the spiral itself.

As the magma integrated into the spiral the powerful winds that kept the Nanos herded to one spot finally weakened enough for the Nanos to move away. Before a single Nano had made it beyond the cracks the lava had flowed from large pillars of fire shot forth from the ground, one from each of the outer crack. The pillars quickly changed from strait to a grid, a net that kept the Nanos caged in the large area below the spiral.

Any Nano that attempted to get beyond the flames were tuned to ash. Several thousand became ash. Once the magma had integrated itself into the spiral the whole spinning complex stated to lower itself towards the ground. It moved slowly at first but quickly picked up speed as it rocketed towards the ground and the Nanos below it. The impact shook the whole planet, only Yen Sid remained unmoved from the tremors, even the Omegas and Seig fell either to a knee or the ground.

The impact released an increasable light that shattered the netting of fire and forced everyone to turn away or shield their eyes, again Yen Sid remained unmoved. The light faded to reveal the spiral, nearly perfect to how it was before it fell, digging its way into the ground spiting burst outward at anything in the area that moved, finishing off any Nanos that survived the impact. Once the top of the spiral was below the level of the ground three large plates of earth shout upwards surrounding the hole tilted inwards and smashed on top of the spiral.

The ground trembled slightly as the three plats landed but once they did there as another quake, one that seemed to come from the core of the planet. Along with the quake bright lights shot upwards from all the cracks in the ground. As the lights from the ground faded the earth turned back to its normal color and the sky returned. All the holes and cracks the spell had formed in the planets surface had also been smoothed over, as if it never happened. There was no sign the Nanos had ever been there.

"Holy Hell," Riku said with wide eyes as he stared unblinkingly at where the army once was.

He was the first to speak since the spell had been cast and even then it wasn't for several moments after it had finished. Everyone had already reclaimed their feet and Yen Sid finally moved, taking a seat on the rise of the wall before Riku uttered his words.

"Now you know why it can only be cast so many times," Seig said with a smirk as a chair appeared behind him and he sat down.

"That was insane… what could anyone do to stop that?" Sora asked after another long moment.

"Nothing," Xexox said simply.

"Only having enough magical force within, and channeling it properly into a defense could you survive the blast, but even then you would be near death," Yen Sid added.

"What's the reason we don't do that to the third wave again?" Anos asked looking at Seig.

"Among us, Yen Sid is the only one able to cast it," Seig said.

"And as you can imagine, it takes a significant drain on the magical reserves, I cannot cast it again for several more day," Yen Sid said simply.

"What about Merlin, or Tim? Could they cast it?" Sora asked eagerly.

"Indeed they can. But not here. Another casting on this planet will bring forth its end," Yen Sid said as he rose to his feet, "now, if my memory serves me correctly, we have until just after dawn before the third wave appears on our horizon."

"That would be correct. I'll still sent Spitfire to make sure our estimates are right, but they have been so far," Seig said confidently.

With that, and a nod to everyone present, Yen Sid descended the stairs of the wall and entered the castle to get a much needed rest.

"I still can't believe the power of that spell," Kairi finally said after a while.

"Be glad you were able to see it, you're not likely to ever again," Vaxer said as he folded his arms, "only full mages know how to cast it, and only a handful of them are powerful enough to do so," he added after receiving a look from Sora.

"I think its time the four of you retired as well," Seig said standing up, "two of you were nearly killed by a falling tower and one of you nearly burned yourself out healing them." The chair behind Seig vanished and he waved his arms towards the stairs as if the allow the others to go before him.

"Why do I need to go now, I'm still fine," Riku asked with a smirk.

Seig smiled as well as his cane appeared in his hand, "is that a challenge?"

"Sure," Riku laughed, "I'm pretty sure I can take you," he said as he drew Dawn's Edge.

"Really? Are you sure? Are you positive?" Seig asked mockingly as his cane morphed into his katana.

"Riku, he's at least as good as the Omegas, I mean, remember how easily he took down that Razor?" Anos asked stepping up beside Riku and muttering in his ear.

"I don't know how to rate the Razors, but Riku could easily hold his own against either me or Vaxer. Not sure about Xexox though," Bruxeus said with a small laugh at the end.

"I'll be fine; I know when I'm in over my head. And besides, Seig's not going to try to kill me; we're on the same side," Riku said reassuringly.

"Riku I never saw you back down from anything. If you did ever get in over you head, you probably just ignored it and plowed along," Kairi said with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Don't worry, if I am too much, I'll tone it down, but I'm going to start out at my top here," Seig said as he rested his katana on his shoulder.

"Wouldn't want anything less," Riku said grinning.

"At the least it'll be a good fight to watch," Sora said shrugging and smirking at Kairi.

"Not for you," Bruxeus said as he grabbed Sora and Kairi by the back of their shirts, "you two need you rest, you too Anos, lets go," he said as he started towards the castle despite the complaints and overly dilapidated attacked from the two heroes. Anos followed behind laughing to himself.

"Two things before we start," Seig said as he jumped down to the courtyard.

"What?" Riku asked as he took the stairs, the remaining Omegas each took a set on the ledge of the wall.

"One, I want you to use Phantasmagoria, I know it won't break against my blade in battle and I don't want that happening to your Zanpakutou," Seig said pointing to Dawn's Edge in Riku's hand.

"Fair enough," Riku said as he switched the two blades, "what's the second thing?" he asked as he reached the courtyard and took his place opposite Seig.

"Well, aside from the obvious of the Omegas being the refs and keeping things fair and even, the wager," Seig said grinning.

"What wager?" Riku asked.

"Simple, for every hit you land on me that manages to draw blood, I will answer one of your deep, burning questions about the mystery that is me," Seig said simply.

"And in the case of you winning?" Riku asked curiously.

"Well, if I win, I have a project, a job, that I want you and Sora to do for me. It won't be until after this whole thing is finished, but if I win that you must do it, and get Sora to help you, regardless of what may come about between now and when I send you," Seig said sternly, things had just gotten serious.

"What kind of job?" Riku asked hesitantly.

"I'll give you the details later, when the timing is more appropriate," Seig said with a shrug.

After a short pause Riku grinned, "deal. Xexox, care to give us the start?" Riku said as he dropped into a fighting stance.

Xexox sighed and rose to his feet, "Riku, ready?"

"Ready!" Riku said as he bounced slightly in his stance, he was more than ready.

"Seig, Ready?" Xexox asked turning to said man.

Seig stood as he did before, leaning slightly on his left leg, his katana held loosely in his right hand and resting on his right shoulder. He glanced up at Xexox before smirking and looking back at Riku, "lets do this, I got things to tend to."

Xexox sat back down and looked at each warrior one last time before shouting, "Fight!"

Riku bolted towards Seig his sword back and to his right wound up for his attack. Seig stood unmoved waiting for Riku to come to him. Riku reached Seig and stopped moving forward as he swung his blade, stopping it when it was straight in front of him positioned right into Seig's chest. But Seig wasn't there, he had vanished once Riku started his swing and once the blade stopped he reappeared standing atop the blade.

"What's this then? You pulled your punch," Seig said mockingly as he looked down at Riku.

Riku glared up at him, "it wouldn't have killed you, the Omegas or me could have healed you from the wound."

"Which is why it missed, if you try and make it not lethal, I'll have no issue avoiding the attack, and you avoiding mine," Seig said as he hopped off the blade.

"You want me to kill you?" Riku asked and he straightened up.

"No, but I want you to try to, if you pull it off, congrats," Seig said with a smirk. "Now then," and Seig vanished again, "let's do this for real now," he said appearing where Riku started from.

"Fine, but no magic or special tricks," Riku said dropping into his fighting stance.

"Good, your getting it now, we'll do it one on one," Seig said lowering his sword from his shoulder and tightening his grip. "Spitfire, why don't you sit this one out and enjoy the show," at Seig's words his shadow rose from the ground and took the shape of Spitfire before it leapt up to the wall and sat beside Bruxeus.

"Ready for real now?" Riku asked from his fighting stance.

"On your mark," Seig said confidently.

-XXX-

Riku slid backwards on the ground and dropped to a knee but he quickly forced himself back to his feet. He had always assumed Seig was a fighter; he had the presence of someone who had seen to many battlefields, but he thought he would be at the level of the Omegas at most, and Riku knew he could hold his own against one of the Omegas.

His eyes looked up from the ground to see Seig standing ready. They had been fighting for a while now; their light now came from the glow the castle itself gave off and no longer from the blackened sky. Seig had been true to his word and lowered his fight to Riku's level, and just by looking at how easy and calm the man was Riku knew how far he had lowered his game.

Gritting his teeth Riku charged in again sword held forward in readiness. Seig stood in a relaxed stance, but it was still a battle ready stance. Riku had done this exact thing nearly every time Seig had sent him skidding or flying backwards. He seemed to let his anger take control in battle, a bad habit to have.

Riku reached Seig and the man threw up his defense instinctively but there was no sound of metal on metal or feeling of reverberation as the swords met. Riku had stopped short and pivoted around, throwing his foot out to knock Seig's sword out of the way as Riku brought his sword in for a devastating blow.

Seig's eyes shot wide and he moved back as quickly as he could, but was still given a large cut across his left leg and into his lower torso. Seig stopped himself and looked up at Riku, he had baited him the whole time, making it seem he was being rash and not thinking, tacking several smaller hits just to get the chance to land a big one.

Seig smirked at Riku; he was a good fighter and a quick thinker but the time had come for the fight to end. Seig now charged Riku, the deep gash in his leg seemingly causing him no hindrance as he moved towards his target. Riku dropped into an open defensive stance; he didn't know what Seig was going to do so he was ready for the attack from any angle.

Seig held his sword across his body in his left hand on his right side and when he reached Riku he swung forward. The attack came from Riku's left, and he swung towards the blade to block the attack. As Seig swung forward he let go of his sword but kept his arm moving towards Riku's sword. Seig's arm hit the flat of Riku's blade and pushed it upwards and outwards as his right hand grasped his falling blade and thrust it into Riku's abdomen.

Seig's left arm had a large chunk of it gashed out from his block but he managed to get his hit in. "Great fight kid, I kept it to your level but its bed time now," Seig said before pulling his sword from Riku and walking towards the Omegas.

Riku fell to his knees when the sword was pulled out but his grip on his sword just tightened. Gritting his teeth against the pain Riku forced himself to his feet and moved quickly towards Seig's back. Seig was about to ask Xexox to heal the pair when he heard the footsteps behind him. He spun and swung his blade in an upward motion to block any attack Riku had.

Seig knocked Phantasmagoria from Riku's left hand but Dawn's Edge, held firmly in his right, found its way into Seig's stomach. Seig gasped in surprise as Riku fell to his knees, "call it a draw," he said before falling on his back with a smile on his face.

-XXX-

The sky above was beginning to brighten over the Grey Castle and the nine warriors who stood on its outer wall. Riku was telling Sora about the fight with Seig, Kairi and Anos also listening to the tale. Riku also told them about the wager but he didn't know how many hits he got on Seig that drew blood, or if Xexox had ruled it a draw or not. Neither Seig nor Xexox would talk about it; they were both more intent on the upcoming battle.

As the sky brightened the Nanos appeared on the horizon approaching the castle. There was little the warriors could do before the Nanos were several meters away, so they were resigned to wait for the army to get close. As the Nanos got nearer everyone fell silent and stood ready for whenever the attack would be launched. As the army marched Seig was glad to notice that this wave was slightly smaller than the first, and significantly smaller than the second, though it was still a large force.

The army stopped marching about three hundred feet from the wall of the castle and simply stood there as if waiting for the command to fight. Anos surveyed the enemy and noticed several types of Nanos, he was happy to not see and Magefists, but they could still be there, he just wasn't seeing them.

"My, my. It has been a while since I was last here, there was still a front door then, how the years have changed us," a mocking voice called from the courtyard.

Everyone spun to see Sol and his entourage standing in the center of the courtyard and looking up at the heroes. Sol stood in the center with Thal and Fos on his left and Jak, Jen, and Xah on his right. None of the heroes had seen or heard as they got into the castle, and Yen Sid scowled at how easily Sol had gotten through the magical barriors.

"Sol, decided to show your face at last?" Sora asked looking down at the dark beings.

"Silence Siv, I'll deal with you later," Sol said turning his cloaked head towards Sora.

"His name's Sora and you have more to worry about that just him," Kairi shouted down at Sol.

"I knew I recognized that voice," Seig said suddenly and all heads turned towards him. "I don't know why you're using a name like Sol, you should be proud of your name, proud of your heritage, Antilus," Seig said with a smirk.

At Seig's words all the dark beings looked at Sol somewhat expectantly while the Omegas looked at him in shock, Yen Sid was impassive and the four heroes were confused. After a moment Sol pulled back his hood revealing his face, which was scowling up at Seig. It was a face the Omegas recognized as Antilus, but Mickey would have called him the Dark Mage that started the Keyblade Wars.

Antilus reached up and unfastened the clasp at the neck of his cloak before discarding the cloth behind him. He was wearing clothing very similar to what Xehanort's heartless wore when Sora fought him all those years ago. "I suppose you'll be telling mother I'm still alive now," he said irritated.

"I wouldn't dream of it. To tell her now that your alive, just so I can tell her tonight that you're dead again is not something I would do," Seig said raising his sword to rest it on his shoulder.

"How… you died in the Keyblade War, your death is what ended the war," Bruxeus said confusedly.

"My mother's gift. I did die but her gift saved me. She never would have seen me worth enough, but I saw myself as such," Antilus said crossing his arms and glaring at Bruxeus.

"That would explain them then," Yen Sid said gesturing the dark being to the right of Antilus.

"Pulled from the moment of their death, I'm sure that explains why they look different; no doubt you altered them while they were in their state of weakness," Seig added crouching down and looking over the dark entities.

"King Jack," Yen Sid said nodding to Jak, "Queen Jenova," he said nodding to Jen, "and Knight Nax," he said nodding to Xah.

"You never cease to amaze," Jack growled as he looked up at Yen Sid.

"Enough of the pleasantries, we're here for a reason," Nax said irritated.

"Anos, come with us. Once Sol…Antilus has taken this realm he has promised us his in addition to ours. When we merge to two together we can rule them as we all see fit," Fos said informatively.

"No, you want to control everything, but you can't, I'll do whatever I can to stop you," Anos said defiantly.

"Told you," Thal muttered to Fos. "We won't hold back against you, you'll die along with them," she said looking at Anos.

"A similar proposition is for you as well, Siv. Return and fight with us and I'll forgive this transgression," Antilus said looking at Sora.

"Do you really expect me to return with you?" Sora asked angered.

"No, I just needed time to do this," Antilus shouted before throwing his right arm towards the wall where there was once a door and the rock and stone exploded outwards creating a new opening, "This castle will be rubble by nightfall!" Antilus shouted with laughter as he and his entourage vanished and the Nanos charged forward.

"Keep them back!" Seig shouted as he turned back towards the outside of the castle and the charging army, "for every hit you take, give them a hundred!" he bellowed before launching himself off the wall and into the hoard of enemies.

Two keyblades appeared in Bruxeus's hands as he followed Seig over the edge, Vaxer close behind with his large blade and Xexox just behind him with his long blades in his hands. Sora raised Ragnarok into the sky, said "courage" and followed the Omegas over the ledge in Valor form with Ragnarok in his right hand and Masamune in his left.

"Cut away their darkness Dawn's Edge," Riku said before his Zanpakutou became a war axe. He nodded at Kairi who returned it and the pair followed the others over the edge of the wall in unison.

Only Yen Sid and Anos remained on the wall, Yen Sid was casting mid level spells at the middle of the army, most of them getting through but Antilus managed to block several of them. Anos watched the fray of battle for a short moment before jumping off the back of the wall into the courtyard. He stood ready on the other side of the opening ready to take out any Nano that managed to get past the others and through the opening in the wall.

"This is going to be a long day," Anos muttered to himself as two Razors and a Greyman clamored through the hole at once.

Sora hacked his way through the mess of Nanos. It felt almost like the heartless or nobodies, but they always went down easier while the Nanos seem to be far more resilient. Their body forms were also generally more disturbing than the heartless; they ranged from the gigantic monstrosities, to animalistic forms, to dragon like shapes, to things that seemed to be made of knives, or rope, or bags, even some that were nothing more than giant mouths with six legs. There were also smaller ones, bug like things as big as he head with blades instead of legs.

Sora just pushed his way through the enemy forces, each time one of his forms ran out he called down another and each time he put one of his other selves in charge, following their suggestions on what form to be next or who to send next. He moved towards the back of the army as he cut them down, he had a feeling that's where Antilus and the others were watching and he was going to take them down.

Riku stood with Kairi, Seig and Vaxer blocking off the opening in the wall. Xexox and Bruxeus had both leaped into the thick of the fight and seamed to be mowing down all the Nanos they could reach. Despite the vast number of enemies they faced the four of them working together managed to make a safety bubble around the opening with only a few sneaking past, well within Anos's ability to take out.

"Well burn out like this, we're not taking them out fast enough. One or two of you stay here, the rest spread out and stop the mayhem," Seig shouted to the others.

"Who stays?" Kairi shouted back.

"I will," Vaxer said simply.

"I'll go," Riku said through gritted teeth, "I'll cut them like butter," he added as he split a Greyman in two.

"As will I," Seig said confidently.

"Then I stay too," Kairi shouted back.

Seig nodded before taking out two Nanos with a swing of his sword and looking at the ground behind him, "Spitfire time to shine," he said before looking back at the fight.

As it had the previous night Seig's shadow rose from the ground and took the shape of Spitfire. However, unlike before when Spitfire would either run off on its own or follow Seig around it took two running steps towards its owner before launching itself at his back.

Spitfire hit Seig's back and lost all rigidity of shape as he seemed to splash before being absorbed into Seig's back. Seig didn't stop moving or cutting down the Nanos as Spitfire melded into him, and he didn't slow down as the effects took place either. It seemed as though the skin of his entire torso had turned black as night. The black skin also spread upwards claiming his neck but stopping at his jaw line and hair line. It also claimed his arms down to the elbows, and all his muscles bulged slightly.

Seig's eyes were also affected, the whites turning black, but the iris stayed blue. His sword also changed, it straightened and gained an edge along its other side as well as growing in length by a few inches. Once his change had finished Seig charged into the mass of enemies that moved against him.

"If he's stepping it up a notch…" Riku said with a smirk before stepping out of the direct contact with the Nanos to hold his axe out in front of him, "Ban-kai," he said simply. There was a small burst of white light and gust of wind and when it was gone Riku stood where he was for a moment before launching himself at the Nanos in front of him.

Riku now had a black organization cloak open over his normal clothes and had a golden spiked gauntlet on his left arm going up to just past his elbow. On silent commands from Riku weapons would appear in his hands and vanish again once he was done with them. A great sword appeared in his right hand and he grasped it in both before cleaving through two Bonehounds. Once the blade left the Bonehounds it vanished and a spear appeared in its place which Riku used to run through three Nanos before it, too, vanished.

Each of the weapons was the same gold color as the gauntlet and seemed to be intrecutly designed and made. With his Bankai unleashed Riku moved into the fray following Seig's example but a different path. Kairi and Vaxer now stood much closer to each other and to the opening holding off the Nanos.

"You can enter the madness if you wish, I can hold this line on my own," Vaxer said once they had closed in together.

"I wouldn't make it, keyblades are useless against them except from Sora, my magic isn't strong enough to hurt them and I can't release my sword like Riku, so I'll just kill myself out there," Kairi said defeated.

"To release your blade just command it and call out its name," Vaxer said simply.

"But I don't know my swords name," Kairi said exasperated.

"Are you sure?" was all Vaxer replied.

Kairi furrowed her brow in thought, her body mindlessly going through the motions she had practiced for years as she thought hard. And then it was there, as if she had always known it, as if it was the first thing she had ever learned and she suddenly felt stupid for forgetting it. With a smile on her face Kairi stepped back and held out her sword, "Send them home, Crystal Heart."

With a flash of light Kairi's sword hand changed from a katana into a beautiful blade. The weapon itself seemed to be a pure diamond, the blade about three feet long and the handle about six inches. The edge of the blade continued form the tip all the way down past where the handle starts and went over the handle to meet the pommel. Only one side of the blade was edged and the other was flat and the handle was even with the flat side of the blade.

On Kairi's right hand was a silver gauntlet that was ornately decorated with several jewels. The gauntlet extended up her arm to just below her elbow. From the pommel of the blade to jut behind the wrist of the gauntlet there was a thick silver chain. Kairi smiled to herself as she looked at her sword as it cut through the Nanos with considerable ease.

"Are you sure you'll be alright here alone," Kairi asked glancing sideways at Vaxer once the shock of her new blade had worn off.

"Certain," Vaxer said simply.

Kairi grinned, "Thanks so much," she said before throwing her sword outward into the mass of Nanos. The chain extended out of some sort of recess in the gauntlet and as Kairi moved forward and swung her arm sideways the sword followed as it returned to her in one smooth arch, allowing her to catch it in her right hand with ease.

Once Kairi had entered the madness of the battle Vaxer threw his empty left had out to his side and a sword identical to the one held in his right hand appeared. He effortlessly wielded the two massive blades and fought back the Nanos that pressed against him, only few making it to the wall beyond him and Anos managed to take them all out.

Sora finally made it to the back of the army and once he broke from its ranks he found himself staring at Antilus and the other dark beings. "Did you come all this way for me?" Antilus asked with a smirk.

"I came all this way to destroy all of you," Sora said sternly, he stood before all of them in Champion form, Honor returning control to Sora once he had exited the battle.

"Oh really?" Fos asked with a wicked grin that matched Thal's.

Moments after Fos spoke the ground began to shake violently. The Nanos didn't stop fighting so none in the fray could afford to stop to try and find the source. Yen Sid soon found that the cause of the shacking was coming from behind the army and was quickly moving towards the army and castle.

"Oh hell!" Anos shouted when the shaking started.

"What is it?" Vaxer bellowed from the other side of the wall.

"I didn't think they'd be able to fit them through the portal," Anos shouted back.

"What is making the earth shake?" Yen Sid demanded looking back at Anos.

"Diggers! Worms, at least two!" Anos shouted back.

Before anyone else could say anything two gigantic purple worms burst out of the ground under the castle and started smashing it with their exposed bodies. The creatures were immense in size, they were as big around as a house and the part of their tube shaped body that was exposed elevated their heads well above the castle.

"That's the cue," Antilus said with a twisted smirk before he vanished.

"Bastard!" Nax muttered looking at where Antilus was.

"We gotta move," Fos said turning and running back where they had come from.

The other dark beings were quick to follow him. As they ran Sora launched his keyblades at them one grazed across Thal's cheek as it flew past. She let out a scream and spun to glare at Sora, Fos stopped too to see what happened while the others kept moving. The keyblades returned to Sora who reverted back to normal when they reached him.

Thal looked back at Fos, "go, I'll kill this one. Call the army back, the Diggers can handle the others," she said before turning back to Sora and walking towards him, "you made me bleed, I'll gut you."

As Thal moved towards Sora Fos closed his eyes and raised his right hand in the air, after a moment he lowered it, opened his eyes and followed the other dark beings back to the portal. After a moment the army of Nanos began to follow, retreating back to the portal. Sora and Thal stared at each other as the army began to run past them.

"Let's get this over with," Thal screamed before charging Sora.

Sora raised Ragnarok in the air and said "love," before entering Complete form and returning the charge.

-XXX-

Antilus appeared on the outer wall of the Grey Castle just a few feet from where one of the Diggers appeared. He looked at Yen Sid who stood about twenty feet from him and was glairing daggers in his direction.

"I always wondered why you refused to teach me. At first I thought it was because you thought I'd make a better brawler like my father was. When I started learning from others I believed it was because you didn't want to help make a mage that would be more powerful than you. I even blamed you initially when I fell to the darkness in my heart. But now I know.

"You saw this moment. Years and years ago you saw this moment, and instead of teaching me and being careful and watchful of what I would learn, you tried to smother the passion out of me. It's not your fault I went to the darkness or that things came to this point, it would have happened even if you did teach me. it's your fault I know as much as I do and that I'm as powerful as I am. You could have placed an early cap on my power, but now the time has come for me to destroy you," Antilus said smiling as he walked towards Yen Sid.

"There are two reasons I never taught you. The first is because your grandfather asked me not to. He was afraid of you becoming this, I knew it would happen either way. But the main reason is because of this moment, I didn't want to give you the pleasure of being able to say it," Yen Sid said smoothly as he folded his hands.

"Being able to say what?" Antilus asked with a confused look as he stopped walking.

"Being able to say that 'the student has surpassed the master,' or 'now the circle is complete,' or 'and the student becomes the master,' or any other such nonsense that I know you would say if you could, but now you can not," Yen Sid said simply.

"I'll still kill you," Antilus said gritting his teeth.

"You'll try," Yen Sid replied confidently.


	11. Fall of the Grey Castle

**Chapter 11: Fall of the Grey Castle**

The heroes just stood in some semblance of shock as the Diggers burst from the ground. They ignored the Nanos that ran past them, just as the Nanos ignored them. They all stood still for a moment, scattered across the battlefield before they charged the giant worms as one. Sora stayed where he was, fighting Thal while Anos and Vaxer waited for the others to reach them.

They all reached the remains of the front wall of the castle at about the same time; the Diggers were wreaking havoc on the building all the while. "Are any of you hurt?" Xexox asked as he reached the group.

"No, we're all good," Anos said after a glance at everyone.

"Anos, you're pretty quick right?" Seig said not taking his eyes off the Diggers.

"How quick do you need?" Anos asked.

"Perfect. Alright, Anos and me take the one on the left, you all take the one on the right, whoever finishes first helps the other," Seig said before grabbing Anos' arm and starting towards the left worm.

"Lets do this then," Bruxeus said before charging the other worm, the others right behind him.

"All I need you to do is distract it, keep it from helping the other worm and doing minimal damage to the castle," Seig said as they ran.

"What are you going to do?" Anos asked as they reached the point where the Digger met the underground.

"Kill it. Just make sure it stays over here," Seig said before jumping on the worms back and running towards its head, jumping and dodging as it tried to throw him off.

Seig had almost reached the head when he was thrown off. As he fell through the air, before he had even gone a few feet the worm's three part jaws slammed shut on him. Anos swore and started being a division, he'd just have to wait for the others to finish with their worm, he only hoped Seig was still alive, despite the wounds he would have.

-XXX-

Thal stopped short in her charge and swung her right arm out at Sora. With her arm came a long spiked chair with a bladed hook on the end. Sora quickly stopped and raised his left arm bringing three of the keyblades from his back to his side to block the attack. The chain clanged and bounced off the keyblades before Thal flicked her wrist and the chain pulled back to her vanishing as it reached her hand.

Sora stayed unmoved, his arm lowered and the keyblades returned to his back as he wondered where the chain had gone. Thal rubbed her right wrist once the chain had returned and when her left hand left her right there was a small black device on her wrist. She did the same with her left wrist, having an identical black device, before looking up at Sora.

"Easier to do this when I'm not hiding my weapons," Thal said simply before running at Sora.

Sora braced himself for the attack and easily knocked the thrown sword out of the way as well as blocked the axe Thal held in both hands and swung at his head when she reached hum. Both blocks were done with the keyblades on his back leaving Sora both his held keyblades to swing out at Thal. One gave her a shallow cut on her outer thigh as she jumped away, the axe sliding into her left wrist as the thrown sword flew back into her right.

"How many you got?" Sora asked as he took a defensive stance.

"As many as I need," Thal answered with a grin.

She threw her right arm at Sora and two spiked chains shout out at him, one slightly ahead of the other. Sora dodged the first and blocked the second. He leaped to the air to dodge a third and called forth his other three back keyblades to block the first as it swung around to attack form behind. Sora was now in the air, upside down, with all his back keyblades blocking attacks.

That's when three more spiked chains shout towards him, all coming from Thal's left hand. Sora twisted quickly and knocked the first two away with his held keyblades and moved his back keyblades to block the third but in a flash of light he was back to normal with no back keyblades and only Ragnarok in his hands. The bladed chain cut across Sora's left arm leaving a wide gash.

Sora landed as all six chains returned to Thal. "So that's your limit then," she said with a smirk.

Sora held his wound with his right hand, Ragnarok switched to his left. He had to think fast, do something to get this fight out of long range and into close, something to dismantle those chains. There was only one thing he could think to do, he knew it wouldn't work, but at the least it would give him time to ask Knowledge. Sora raised Ragnarok above his head and said "Anger," before appearing in Heartless form. As soon as his form shifted Sora put Anger in charge and asked his others for help.

Anger let out a bestial roar as he gained control of Sora's body and quickly charged Thal. Thal scowled at the change and unleashed her spiked chains on the monster. Sora easily dodged the lethality of the attacks and ignored any hit they actually scored. He leaped at Thal and unleashed a fury of attack on her, catching her off guard and unarmed while the chains returned.

Thal jumped back to give herself space and time to get a weapon out but Sora was relentless. He had already scored a deep gash of four parallel cuts across Thal's face as well as several cuts elsewhere. When Sora reached Thal after her jump backwards she had a short sword in one hand and a buckler shield in her other. This did not deter Sora at all as her was unyielding in his attack, ignoring all blows that Thal managed to land on him and simply focusing on the one he could give her.

As Thal swung at Sora's head he grabbed the blade in both hands and hoisted himself up to kick Thal in the face with both feet as hard as he could. The kick separated the two, sending Thal stumbling backwards, but maintaining her feet, while Sora soared through the air before landing in a crouch. As soon as he landed Sora was back in his normal form, all wounds he got while in Heartless form were gone. The same was not true for Thal who still had all her injuries from the close fight, including the cuts across he face, a deep slash in her right side and a devastating gash in her left shoulder that went to her bone.

Once Sora was normal again he raised his keyblade in the air and said "Knowledge," to become Wisdom form while putting Knowledge in charge. As soon as Sora started to raise his arm Thal pulled away her sword and shield and sent out several spiked chains. The keyblade was still in the air from summoning Wisdom form and when Sora saw the chains coming he called out "Shell."

A hexagon grid half-sphere appeared in front of Sora that all the chains bounced off of before a scowling Thal recalled them. Sora charged Thal gliding on air as he did and shooting white balls of magical pain at her. Thal quickly took a tower shield in hand before the balls reached her and managed to deflect all of them.

As soon as Sora was only a few feet from Thal he stopped charging and waved his keyblade at her in an upward motion saying "Aero" as he did. Before Thal even knew what was going on she was countless feet in the air being supported by a cushion of air. Sora moved backwards several feet before pointing his keyblade at the unmoving Thal and calling out "Graviga."

A large semitransparent black ball appeared above Thal and pushing her in front of it plummeted to the ground like a rocked moving faster and faster as they did and finally hit the ground with impressive force. Sora moved to the still body of his enemy and prepared to unleash another spell on her. Before any words left Sora's mouth Thal's arm moved and shot a spiked chain straight at and through Sora's right shoulder. Thal grinned as she forced herself to her feet. Her left arm was limp and obviously broken in several places and her body was cut up and torn all over. With a whip of her arm the chain soared through the air carrying with it a screaming Sora before Thal flicked her wrist and the chain tore itself from his body and returned to her. Sora landed on the ground with a hard thud. With a flash of light Sora was lying on the ground in his normal form.

Thal had a twisted grin as she slowly approached Sora but she froze when he got to his feet, perfectly unharmed. She gritted her teeth as a small stick appeared in her right hand and she did and upward slashing motion at Sora shouting "Comet" as she did. Sora didn't have time to react as the rock of fire shot from the stick straight at him. Sora was hit full on in the chest and sent back several feet hitting the ground hard on his upper back and tumbling.

As soon as Comet had been fired Thal did a horizontal slashing motion with the stick and shouted "Bio" as she swung. A green gas spewed from the stick and moved quickly towards Sora. As soon as the spells had been shot Thal spun and ran for the portal. She needed to heal before she could win, she underestimated this fight and paid for it, but now she knew, and as soon as she was better she would be able to mop the floor with this kid.

Sora groaned as he forced himself to his feet but was hit by the green gas and fell back over coughing. When Sora final forced himself to his feet his skin had a green tinge to it and his shirt was burned away on his chest and the skin beneath was red raw and burnt, Sora could smell the cooked flesh and nearly vomited. He managed to keep that down as he got to his feet and saw Thal running. He wanted to send a spell at her, or even change to Final form and fly over and catch her but the green gas made him feel to weak to do anything, so he did what he could, he ran after her, hoping he was moving faster than she was, and that he could keep it up and get her before she reached the portal.

-XXX-

Antilus threw his right hand towards Yen Sid and a large fireball followed the path set out. Yen Sid raised his left hand towards the fire and a transparent green half-sphere appeared which the fireball hit and bounced off of, sending it straight back at Antilus. Yen Sid dropped his left arm and whipped his right upwards and at his command the stone of the wall they were standing on liquefied and rose up to engulf Antilus' legs to his knees and arms to his elbows before solidifying and pinning him to the spot so the fireball hit him full on.

Once the flames died Antilus gritted his teeth and the now solid stone on his hands and feet froze, frost smoke rising from the rock before Antilus grunted and broke form the binds shattering the brittle ice.

"You initially surprised me with your silent spells, but it was not unexpected. That spell however…" Yen Sid said frowning at Antilus.

"Was one of your own. Developed by the great Yen Sid," Antilus said finished for him as he raised his arms at his sides in mock praise.

"You stole my books and learned my spells. Spells I never taught any pupil, ever. Spells most pupils never knew about," Yen Sid said with anger seeping into his voice.

"I told you, if only you had taught me, you could have limited my power. But now the Frigis spells, as well as so many others, are mine to command," Antilus said with a wicked smile as his arms dropped.

"So be it," Yen Sid said as his left hand flicked upward and the faint transparent image of an orange clock appeared before him, the hands spinning quickly around it. The clock hadn't even completely faded when Yen Sid flashed in front of Antilus and flicked his left hand towards him, a red transparent clock appearing before him with the hands not moving.

Yen Sid then flashed to a further distance before throwing his hands towards Antilus in rapid succession, each flick being a spell. Antilus, though he could see the attack and spells that Yen Sid was unleashing, was unable to move out of the way, the Stop spell freezing him in place. First black tar hit Antilus in the eyes, blinding him, then a steel plate was bolted over his mouth, silencing him. He was then hit by a green gas that gave his skin a slight green tinge. This was followed by a high level Fire, Water, Blizzard, and Thunder spell.

After the four elemental spells a Comet shot from yen Sid and hit Antilus directly in the chest singing him as severely as Sora had received. After sending the Comet Yen Sid raised both hands above his head in unison, the Haste spell wearing off as his hands rose. A faint glow appeared between hand hands before he whipped his hands down and the fain light became a large glowing white orb with three smaller white orbs orbiting it. The four spheres rocketed towards Antilus and struck him dead on in his already wounded chest. The blast sent Antilus tumbling backwards.

Antilus slowly staggered to his feet, his clothes were both soaking wet and scorched and the skin of his chest was severely burned. Once on his feet Antilus turned his face towards Yen Sid, the tar still in his eyes and metal still over his mouth. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small vial of light blue liquid. Yen Sid's eyes narrowed when he saw the vial and immediately prepared a spell. Antilus smashed the vial in his face, the glass shattering and digging into his flesh and the liquid splashing across his visage.

The tar covering his eyes and the metal over his mouth began dissolving upon contact with the liquid and in short moments Antilus could both see and speak again, and with speech came his ability to cast again. But before he could send a spell at Yen Sid he had to throw up a quick transparent blue half-sphere as a wall of fire rolled towards him. Once the fire had passed Antilus threw up his right arm in the sky and was covered in a green mist. The mist pulled the glass from his face and healed the cuts they caused; it also removed the green tinge of his skin and healed the burns on his chest.

Yen Sid and Antilus just stared at each other for a long moment before a false keyblade appeared in Antilus' right hand and he gave a horizontal slash with it towards Yen Sid. The slash sent a horizontal curved blade straight towards Yen Sid who waited until the blade was nearly upon him before he whipped his hand upwards and the blade fizzled into nothing. Antilus scowled as he pulled back his left hand and threw it forward putting his whole body into it and taking a step forward with the motion. A powerful gust of wind shot out from Antilus towards Yen Sid who remained motionless as the wind reached him and split to pass harmlessly to either side.

Antilus stood back up and kicked his leg towards Yen Sid, and act that pulled three stones from the floor beneath them and sent them flying at Yen Sid. Yen Sid raised his arm from his side to be slightly outward and in front of him, the palm facing him and hovering in front of his chest. As Yen Sid's arm raised a translucent red arm appeared and copied its motion. All three rocks collided with the red arm and crumbled.

After the rocks hit the ground Yen Sid raised his other arm to mirror the first, as he did the rest of the red being appeared. It was a seven foot tall humanoid figure, completely covered in some sort of armor and translucent red from head to toe. It held nothing in its hands and seemed to move as Yen Sid moved his fingers. The red man lumbered forward to attack Antilus who blocked the wild swing it took at him. The red man was ferocious in its attack and didn't let up once, its armor being strong enough to attack Antilus with, and therefore strong enough to resist his attacks.

In his rage at Yen Sid and the red man Antilus channeled a fire spell into his keyblade as he attacked and was pleased by the results as the red man was actually knocked back by the spell. Antilus grinned and slid backwards, gliding on the air. He stuck his keyblade into the ground and raised his arms up and outwards so that one was pointed to ether side of the red man, which was now walking towards him. Two large black spheres appeared, one on ether side of the red man and both directly in line with one of Antilus' hands.

The red man stopped moving forward. Though his legs continued to go through the motions he wasn't making any progression. Antilus grinned as he slowly closed each of his fists which darkened the spheres and pulled the red man backwards so that it was suspended in the air between the spheres. Antilus continued to close his fists and the effects of the spheres on the red man increased until it was split in half and each half pulled to one of each of the two spheres.

Once the red man was pulled into the spheres Antilus dropped his arms and picked his keyblade back up. He started walking towards Yen Sid and stopped when he got to where he was when he kicked the stones. "Will these petty gimmicks never end? When will you finally face me like a man?" he asked before smirking, "you can't can you, all magic no muscle, not a smart move I'd say," he said smiling.

Yen Sid didn't say anything as he crossed he arms in front of him and whipped them outwards to be held up at his sides. When his arms stopped he was reveiled to be in the same armor as the red man, only his was smaller, to fit his frame, as well as solid red instead of transparent. The armor only covered Yen Sid's upper body, from neck to waist and both arms from shoulder to hand. He then flicked his left wrist at his feet and Antilus could see the light of the change peek from under his robe.

Yen Sid then shot forward towards Antilus, flashing pure white once as he moved. He reached Antilus and punched him hard in the chest. Antilus skidded backwards slightly from the attack but quickly went on the offense. All of his attacks were effortlessly dodged or blocked by Yen Sid who moved with speed and grace only possible from years of hand to hand practice.

Yen Sid held no weapon in his hands and so every attack he sent out was one of fist, arm or foot. About half of them managed to land on target. Antilus was doing everything he could to try and hit, he even tried channeling spells though his keyblade but it did nothing to the armor Yen Sid wore. As the two fought they moved, forward for Yen Sid and backwards for Antilus. Nothing Antilus did could change the tide of this bout, even the spells that he hit Yen Sid with, point blank, did nothing to slow the elder mage as he continued his attack.

Finally, after knocking the keyblade form Antilus' hand Yen Sid kicked his feet from under him and before he could fall hit him full force in the chest with both fists. Antilus flew backwards and skid across the ground before stopping. When he did he looked up to see Yen Sid standing over him "proper use of magic will beat any amount of muscle, no matter the odds," Yen Sid said simply before delivering a powerful blow to Antilus' face.

Before a second hit could land Antilus went intangible and melded into the floor only to rise out several feet behind Yen Sid. Yen Sid stood and looked at Antilus ready for any sort of attack he would unleash. "Until our next spar," Antilus said as he vanished.

Yen Sid sighed as the armor faded off of him. He slowly walked to the rise on the wall and sat down facing the rest of the castle and the Diggers, he was getting far too old to be in the thick of the fights anymore. As his eyes surveyed the fight the others were having Yen Sid sighed again and raised an arm to the sky, he was getting used to saving Seig.

-XXX-

Anos found himself getting tired as he jumped and dodged around to keep the Digger occupied. He kept glancing at the other one to see how everyone else was doing, but from where he was it seemed they were only dealing minor damage, simply irritating the great worm. Anos was starting to hope the other worm would die quick so he could stop jumping around when the one he was up against started thrashing wildly.

Anos stopped jumping around and watched as the thrashing got more and more violent before a bulge appeared in the worm just above ground level. The bulge grew larger and larger all the way around the worm, as if it had eaten something larger than it was big around. The bigger the bulge got, the more the worm thrashed before there was a loud banging noise as the bulge burst open breaking the worm in two.

The front part, the section that was above ground fell with a thunderous crash as purple goop flew everywhere from the blast. The worm hitting the ground caused a lot of dust to fly into the air but Anos ignored it at he ran to where the blast had happened, praying Seig was the cause of it. As Anos moved through the dust he thought he saw a figure, but he couldn't tell what it was because of the clouds of smoke. That was rectified after a moment as a spiraling gust of wing centered on the figure cleared the smoke away.

The figure was proven to be Seig back in his normal form, an unconscious Spitfire held in his arms. Seig saw Anos and immediately started towards him, "here," Seig said carefully placing Spitfire in Anos' arms, "do everything you can for him. He burned himself out pretty bad to take out the Digger. If he wakes up while you're healing him and you think he's okay for the fight tell him I'm ready for second gear," Seig said simply before his katana was in his hand and he charged towards the second Digger.

Anos just watched Seig for a moment before setting Spitfire down and beginning to heal him. He just hoped he had enough left in him to do the job, and that what normal healed people would heal whatever it was that Spitfire is.

Seig ran straight for the worm and jumped up with tremendous force to deliver a devastating body-slam to the side of the Diggers head that jerked it over and sent the head towards the ground. Seig landed near Xexox and Riku after he delivered his hit.

"How you doing here?" Seig asked watching the worm let out a loud roar as it lifted off the ground.

"We're not. Everything we do just annoys it," Xexox said.

"All our attacks barely get through its skin, I even switched to Phantasmagoria and it's still not doing much," Riku added.

"Well at least the other ones dead," Seig said as Vaxer and Bruxeus launched an attack on the Digger.

"Care to solo this one then?" Xexox asked gesturing to the worm.

"Can't, burned Spitfire out doing it. Anos is healing him, but even if he can get back in this doing the same again will kill him, or me, or both," Seig said with a shrug.

"Oh well," Riku said before running at the worm, Xexox and Seig soon to follow.

The addition of Seig was noticeable for the group, they were able to get more hits in more often and Seig managed to give some hard hits that definitely hurt the Digger, but it wasn't enough and they were wearing out faster that the worm was. Then a ray of hope shone in as Spitfire ran up behind Seig and hopped onto his shoulder. Seig glanced sideways to see his companion and grinned before Spitfire melded into his back and Seig changed into his second form.

Without a moments hesitation Seig transformed again, the pure black extending to his wrists and overtaking his bottom jaw. It also moved up to be under his hair and behind his ear, his hair turning jet black. The black of his eyes also engulfed his irises. His sword changed again, this time becoming the normal steel color of a sword it also grew to about four feet in length and lost its edge along the back but gained a series of black rings along the non-edged side of the blade.

As soon as the change was finished Seig charged forward and drove his blade into the side of worm at a height he could reach from the ground. Gripping the handle tightly Seig swung his arms up, the sword slicing through the worm as it made its upward way out of its side. The sharp blade made the cut smooth clean and easy. But the rings along the back tore at the flesh as the sword passed catching and ripping making the cut far less clean and much more jagged.

The Digger let out a bellow of pain and rage as Seig took his sword out, it was exactly what he was looking for. He quickly turned and shouted his plan to the others and without hesitation they all moved into action. Kairi Riku and Bruxeus went for the Diggers head, attacking as they had before only more focused on the head region. They were the distraction, they kept the worm occupied and would regain its attention whenever its anger started to pull it in a different direction.

Seig would slice through the Digger in the neck region tearing deep into its flesh. Xexox would then attack in the same place and using the already open wound to ease his attack as he lengthened the cut in the Digger. Vaxer would then attack in the same place as the other two both widening and deepening the cuts they've already made. The first two times this plan went off very successfully. Every time any of the three attacks was made the worm would go for them but the distracters would quickly get its attention back.

But once Seig made his third cut the worm made its way for him and would not be swayed from its rage. Seig quickly motioned for the other two to attack, he would be their diversion. They were able to perform their attacks, and once they had they had managed to gouge out a total of a quarter of the way around the worm, none of the three gashes were connected though.

When they tried to go at it again the Digger proved to have learned and immediately went after Seig Vaxer and Xexox before they could even get close enough to attack, it seemingly ignored the relatively harmless Bruxeus Riku and Kairi. "What now?" Riku shouted over the roars of the worm.

Seig simply shrugged, he had no further ideas. The six of them were just jumping around, avoiding the attack of the worm but unable to get close enough to make any of their own. And then help came from the skies. Three large bolts of lighting shot down form the sky the strike the Digger, one bolt in each of its three gouged wounds.

As soon as the bolts came Seig looked to the front wall of the castle to see Yen Sid sitting on the rise with one hand raised in the air. Seig smirked as he turned to the others, "Dig Deep! Riku, piss it off," he shouted as he charged the worm, the others moving on his command.

The Digger roared in pain and anger as the lightning struck it and as it thrashed around Riku appeared on its left hand lower jaw. He thrust Phantasmagoria into the jaw and out the other side before slicing from the point he pierced it to the end of the jaw. The worm roared again and started shaking its head wildly, completely ignoring the other five warriors that launched themselves at it.

Bruxeus landed on the head, where, if there was any sense to the creature, the eyes and brain would be. There were already several smaller cuts and slashes around here, but Bruxeus stood straight and put all his might into slamming his keyblades as hard and as deep into the Digger as he could. This just compounded Riku's injury, assuring the worm would be oblivious to the others until it was too late.

The other four struck almost as one, Xexox stabbing his twin long blades as deep into the Diggers flesh as he could while Vaxer did the same with his twin massive blades. Seig also dug his blade as deep as he could but his, being a shorter blade, didn't go as far. Each of them stuck at the center of one of the three gashes they had previously caused, meaning their attacks went deeper than if they had picked any random spot. But none of the three of them had struck as effectively as Kairi who thrust her diamond blade into the same gash as Seig had, and the chain sending her blade deep into the worm and out its other side.

The Digger let out one great, deafening roar which the warriors took as their cue as they all removed their weapons and landed a distance from the worm. They all watched as the Digger fell to the ground and stopped moving. Seig waved for Vaxer and Xexox to follow him, they were going to complete their work and sever the head, just to be safe.

-XXX-

Thal and Sora were both panting when they reached the crater but they were still both moving. Sora had gained on Thal, but not enough, and he didn't have it in him to go any faster, but he wouldn't give up, not until it was over. Either he would chase Thal until he managed to catch her and put an end to her, or he would see her vanish into the portal and he'd be faced with a hard choice with no winning situation.

Thal reached the portal and laughed as she passed though it. And Sora stopped running. It was time for that hard choice, leave and let Thal get away, or follow and possibly manage to stop her, but also have to face the other warriors Antilus had. He was in no condition to stand up to them, especially if what Seig said was true, if they really were Jack and Nax. Sora let out a deep heavy breath as he turned and started back to the Grey Castle.

On the other side of the portal Thal mad her way through the castle looking for Antilus. She found no one as she moved through the halls but finally found her target in the Cathedral. Antilus was at the altar in the Cathedral staring at the portal to the Nano realm.

"There you are," Thal called as she entered the room, the large doors closing behind her.

Antilus turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow at her appearance, "have a disagreement with your better half?" he asks lazily.

"That keyblade kid. Siv's, real side… whatshisname. He's on the other side of the portal now, heal me up and I'll go finish him off, he's just as banged up as I am," Thal said grinning in triumph.

"Did the others tell you I was here?" Antilus asked ignoring Thal's previous statement.

"No, I didn't see any of them on my way here," Thal said simply, "why does that matter?" she demanded.

Antilus simply turned back to look at the portal to the Nano realm.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Thal shouted as she stormed closer to the altar.

Antilus spun around to look at her straight on, "I will not heal you so that you can go kill the Keymaster. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm trying to work here," he snapped before spinning back around to face the portal.

"No dice pall!" Thal shouted moving closer, "you don't want me going back after the keybrat; you give me a good reason why." She paused for a moment before continuing, "and anything you're working on that involves the portal to my home I deserve to know about," she finished.

Antilus' head drooped before he spun again and looked at Thal. "I believe I still have the chance of getting the Keymaster to join my side again. There is no part of my plan he needs to fill, but he is a good and reliable ally," Antilus said moving towards Thal. "As for you, I won't be healing you. Ever. It's nothing personal but I only heal myself, keeps me alive longer. And your portal, like you, has fulfilled all that I asked of it. I'm trying to summon the spell that will grant closure on the situation, but it's a big spell and you are very distracting," Antilus said only a few feet from Thal.

Thal glared at Antilus for a moment, "Well tou-"

"Enough!" Antilus shouted cutting Thal off and snapping his fingers as he shouted. At the snap of his fingers a gray smoke flowed from Antilus' hand to Thal where it affixed itself to her face in the form of a steel plate over her mouth.

"My encounter today reminded me of the usefulness of the little spells," Antilus said as Thal struggled to pull the plat off her mouth.

Antilus forced Thal down to sit in one of the third row pews and with a hand on her left shoulder and the other on the pew she was sitting on Antilus froze both, but only a little of each. He only froze Thal's left arm and a bit of her torso, and he only froze the part of the pew she was sitting on. Because the two were frozen at the same time and touching when they were frozen they had fused as one ice mass. Thal couldn't move.

"Now stay there and keep quiet. I'm going to destroy your entire realm in all its completeness," Antilus said as he reached the portal. He was silent for a while as he prepared himself the cast the spell. The whole time Thal was trying madly to get free of the fused ice or even get the steel plate off her mouth. After his moments of silence Antilus threw his right hand towards the portal and bellowed "Frigis 9!" and instantly the whole of the portal was a sheet of ice.

Antilus slowly pulled his right arm back and away from the portal. As he did the portal slowly shrank and crinkled and it was forced into its new shape. Finally it stopped resisting and Antilus was done. The portal fell to the altar and hit the table with a small tap, it was now in the shape of a cube about the size of a golf ball. Antilus picked up the cube and walked over to Thal, holding the cube out for her to see.

"This is the entirety of your realm. I have stopped every molecule from being able to move, turning everything and everyone into ice. I then compressed the whole realm into this cube," he crushed the cube in front of Thal's face, "and when that ice melts, there will be absolutely nothing left."

"As for you," he said and he stood up straight, "you get to die, having served your purpose. I no longer need you or Fos, I have the Nano army and am able to command it," he looked at the anger in Thal's eyes, "oh don't worry, I won't kill him. He can still fight. That's why you're useless," Antilus said as he places his hand on Thal's head and in moments her whole body was ice, though her eyes still moved, indicating the life still in her.

Without a moments hesitation Antilus summoned his false keyblades and smashed it into the top of Thal's head shattering her whole body and the part of the pew that was frozen. The keyblade then vanished and Antilus walked out of the Cathedral. Soon the ice would melt and there would be nothing left of Thal or the realm she came from.

-XXX-

Frigis 9, in both name and effect, is from 8-bit theater and belong in full to its writer.


	12. A History Lesson

**Chapter 12: A History Lesson**

Sora wobbled as he walked back to the Grey Castle. He wondered how he managed to make the distance from the castle to the portal in the first place and running while he was. He could only assume that the effects of the spell increased as time passed, he might have been strong enough to get a spell of when he was first hit, he should have risked a Cure. He knew there was no way he'd manage any spell now.

Only two thoughts kept him placing one shaky foot in front of the other. The first was that Kairi was back at the castle, and he couldn't wait to see her again. The other was that he knew someone there would be able to heal him and get rid of the pain that coursed through him. The next thing Sora knew he was lying on his back on the ground and Anos was leaning over him pouring healing energies into him. He could feel all that pain and fatigue leave his body and slowly sat up as they washed away.

"Ugh, what happened?" Sora asked placing a hand on his forehead.

"You passed out about six miles out, Spitfire saw you as it was scouting and got Seig to bring you back," Anos explained as he finished up and got to his feet.

Sora nodded his thanks as hot got up as well, then he got a look around at the devastation, "and what happened here?" he asked.

The Grey Castle was gone. Parts of the outer walls still stood, but everything else was one large pile of rubble. Sora and Anos were just inside the outer wall in a cleared area. "Where is everyone?" Sora asked after a moment looking around.

"Seig sent the Omega's to put out any fires Antilus may have started while we were here fighting the first two waves. Him and Riku are taking care of the Digger bodies while Kairi and Yen Sid sift through the rubble to see if anything useful is undamaged," Anos said as he looked around the remains.

"So much for holding off the siege then…" Sora said defeated.

"Not really," Seig said as he and Riku walked around a part of the remaining wall and headed towards the pair.

"What does that mean?" Riku asked as the got closer.

"The castle was going to fall anyway, what matters is we didn't loose anyone when it happened," Seig said as they reached the pair.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Anos demanded.

"Yeah I'll get to that. I don't feel like explaining myself twice so let's wait for the group to get back," Seig said avoiding everyone's gaze.

"Nothing," Yen Sid called from one of the larger piles of rubble.

Everyone looked over to see him and Kairi walking towards them through the rubble. "What do you mean nothing?" Sora asked as the pair reached them.

"Nothing of use survived the destruction," Yen Sid clarified.

"Even the Legendary Keyblades are gone. Do you have them?" Kairi asked looking at Sora.

Sora expended his hand outwards and adopted a determined look on his face before sighing and dropping his arm, "nope," was all he said.

"So what's this about the Grey Castle falling anyway," Riku asked looking at Seig as Sora's hand dropped.

Seig sighed and looked at Riku, "I said I don't want to-"

"Oh please, don't stop on our account," a voice called from above them.

"Yes, by all means, do tell," another chided.

The group looked up to see the three Omegas standing on the outer wall, each was glaring at Seig. Beside them stood Leon, Cloud, and Auron, all of which were more occupied by what had happened to the castle then who stood below them. "Cloud, Leon, Auron what are you guys doing here?" Sora asked upon seeing the trio.

"Lending a hand," Auron said taking his eyes off the destroyed castle and looking at Sora.

"Xexox said you would need a hand soon," Leon explained as he jabbed a thumb towards the Omegas.

"Really?" Yen Sid said looking at Xexox.

The Omegas jumped down off the wall and Cloud soon followed, Auron and Leon taking what remained of the stairs, "Considering what you want me to do tomorrow, having them here seems a good idea," Xexox said looking at Yen Sid.

"That makes sense, but why are they here now?" Seig asked and everyone looked at him. He sighed and rubbed his forehead with his right hand as if to relieve pressure, "I have nothing against them in anyway, but I'm going to divulge information tonight that they don't have an understanding of. I don't feel like wasting the night bringing them up to speed with the rest of you."

"What don't we know?" Cloud asked taking a step towards Seig.

Seig dropped his hand and looked at Cloud, "What Era we're in. as well as a lot of what's been going on around here. I've no doubt you all know that something's up, but I don't think you know the finer details. You're all good warriors and I would greatly appreciate the help you can give us tomorrow, but unless you can all sit and listen without interrupting as I explain things…"

"I think we get it," Leon said nodding, Cloud remained silent.

"Kings," Auron said after a moment. Everyone looked at him.

"What?" Bruxeus asked.

"It's the Era of Kings," Auron said simply. Everyone just stared at him for a moment.

"Wow, I honestly wasn't expecting that," Seig said slightly dumbfounded.

"Bruxeus, I think we should head back to Radiant Garden, you can get us in the morning when you need us," Leon said turning to the Omega.

"Right, come on guys, I'll get you in the morning," Bruxeus said waving Auron and Cloud to him and Leon.

The four vanished and a few minutes later Bruxeus reappeared. "Let's set up a camp here before I get started," Seig said turning from the group.

They all worked in relative silence as they cleared away the ruble to make enough room for a fire and them all to sit around it. Once the space was cleared Seig started the fire while Yen Sid summoned seats for them all.

As soon as they were all seated Xexox turned to Seig, "why was my castle supposed to fall?"

Seig sighed and turned to Xexox, "it's not your castle. It never was, you all lived here and used it, quite well I'll admit, but it was never yours. The Kings own the castles on this world, just as they own this world."

"So which King owned the Grey Castle?" Bruxeus asked.

"Doesn't matter, they never tried to remove you and the castle's gone," Yen Sid said.

"That doesn't answer my question," Xexox said simply.

"Right," Seig said leaning forward, "to put it simply the castle didn't really matter. We just needed a place to hold off the attacks of the Nanos and the White Castle wouldn't work. For the Era of Kings to come to a full end the World of Kings needs to be destroyed, so the state of the castles on it is already determined," Seig said simply.

"Why does the world need to be destroyed?" Bruxeus asked.

"To cover our bases," Seig said shrugging, "now to the point of all this-"

"Wait," Sora said and everyone looked at him. "Who is Antilus? You said you knew his mother," Sora said looking at Seig while everyone looked confusedly at him.

At the mention of Antilus' mother Seig's eyes widened and he shot to his feet, "oh crap," he said before vanishing.

"Where'd he go now?" Riku asked looking around.

"To tell Antilus' mother that her son is still alive," Yen Sid said simply.

After a few minutes Seig reappeared a few feet from everyone else. As soon as he appeared he took a few stumbling steps forward and muttered to himself before a second figure appeared behind him. This figure held a staff of some kind in its hands and took tow quick steps towards Seig before a loud crack rang out as the end of the staff hit the side of his head and Seig hit the ground.

The figure continued to beat Seig with the staff, saying something to him while it did but none of the others heard it. They had all gotten to their feet and started towards the pair to stop the attack when a third being appeared and caught the staff mid-swing. It was at this point that Sora recognized the two, it was Sakura and Gandalf.

The staff in Sakura's hands was the same one as what she held in her stain-glass image. Once Gandalf stopped her Sakura stepped away from Seig and her staff vanished. The group reached the trio as Seig regained his feet. "What was that about?" Riku asked looking at Sakura.

Sakura looked at Riku with a neutral expression, "when the Keyblade Wars ended Seig told me my son had died, he just told me he's still alive," Sakura said calmly before glaring at Seig again.

"Whoa, Antilus was your son?" Sora said shocked.

"But that doesn't make any sense. John was sealed away eons ago and the Keyblade Wars just happened. You said you had to grant John long life how could Antilus live that long?" Kairi asked looking from Gandalf to Sakura.

"He did get certain abilities from me. And if that wasn't one of them, why would I not grant such a gift to my son?" Sakura answered.

"But, he turned to the darkness," Anos said sternly.

"Not for a long time. It was shortly before the Keyblade Wars that Antilus fell to the darkness in his heart," Yen Sid said from behind Kairi.

"Consequently, that's how he's alive," Seig said calmly turning to Sakura and Gandalf.

"What do you mean 'that,' the darkness?" Sakura asked staring into Seig.

"No, the gifts he got from you. He found himself worthy and so came back. He also brought back the Black King and Queen, along with Nax," Seig said folding his arms.

"What? Are they at their full power?" Gandalf demanded.

"I don't know. Jenova has been shape shifting but both Nax and Darkness look different. The Black King is much smaller than he was, but he's still larger than normal people," Seig said with a shrug.

"You knew about this," Gandalf said jabbing Seig in the chest with his pointer finger.

"I had a hunch, but we didn't find out for sure until today," Seig said pushing Gandalf's hand away.

"And those younger eyes you saw through?" Sakura asked folding her arms.

"Parts are hazy, sometimes we don't recall until its already happening," Yen Sid explained simply.

"Now if you'll excuse us, I'm trying to explain things to these fine youngsters," Seig said gesturing Sora and the others.

"Things you don't want us to know?" Gandalf asked taking another step towards Seig.

"Things you already know," Yen Sid answered simply.

With a look at Yen Sid and his impassive features Gandalf sighed and nodded before vanishing. Sakura apologized to everyone before she too vanished. Once they were gone Seig walked back to where he was sitting and the others followed his example. Once they were all seated Riku turned to Seig, "I just remembered."

"I am never going to get around to telling them, am I?" Seig asked looking at Yen Sid.

"Eventually," Riku said grinning. "All this talk of a son reminded me that you said I met your son. I know you wouldn't normally answer my question, but I know I got you at least one time in the fight, meaning I get at least this question," Riku said his grin not fading.

"Who my son is?" Seig asked raising an eyebrow at Riku then glancing at Yen Sid. "I can tell you of my first son, but not my second," he said finally looking at Riku.

"Wait, you have more than one?" Kairi asked.

"Just the two. And no daughters," Seig answered with a nod.

"No, I want to know about both," Riku said crossing his arms.

"Can't, I made a promise to Yen Sid that I won't reveal my second born until I had a chance to talk with him in private about it," Seig said simply.

"Your son doesn't know you're his father?" Sora shouted.

Seig flinched at the volume but nodded, "Unfortunately. He's been raised well but things have been far too demanding the past few decades for it to be by my hand."

"Fine, then who's your oldest?" Riku asked interested.

"John," Seig said simply.

There was silence for a long time before Sora, Riku, and Kairi all shouted "What?" at the same time.

"John is my son. Which makes Antilus my grandson," Seig repeated.

"Does Sakura know? Does Antilus know?" Sora asked.

"Yes. On both fronts," Seig answered.

"But, I don't get it. The navigation gummi Jon left behind took me to his home world, but it was gone," Riku said confused.

"That wasn't his home world. It's just were he was trained as he grew. It was destroyed in the Keyblade War," Seig replied with a shrug.

"Why did you let him die like that? Why didn't you fight the Jack? I know you're way stronger than John was, why did you let your son go out to die?" Sora demanded.

"He asked me to. Gandalf and Sakura came and asked me to do it, and I refused. It wasn't my place to kill the Black King. John was there, he met them, and after they left asked me if he could do it. So I said yes," Seig said somewhat removed as the memories returned.

"How old was he?" Kairi asked.

"Eight," Seig said quietly.

"And you left him to his fate? He was just a child, you could have easily said no," Sora shouted.

"I didn't leave him anywhere. It was his decision, and yeah he was a kid, but he never wavered from his choice. Every year I asked if he wanted to change his mind, I told him it was always his choice and if he wanted to stop he could and I would back him. He never changed his mind at any point. I kept it his choice and when he was ready I let him know," Seig said proud of his son.

"What do you mean you let him know?" Riku asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm the one that gave him that blade, as well as put the power into it," Seig said pointing at the handle of Phantasmagoria.

"But I thought Gandalf and Sakura gave it to him," Kairi said looking at Seig.

"And you said he infused Phantasmagoria into the blade," Sora said pointing at the sword.

"Gandalf may have given John a weapon for his fight against that Black King, but I gave him that blade before that and it's what he used," Seig said folding his arms.

"And he did ask me to infuse the blade with Phantasmagoria but it didn't take, though I never told him such," Yen Sid added.

"That's why Sakura was nervous about you finding out I had John's sword and coat," Riku said looking down at himself.

"That would be why. I have no idea where he got the coat, but if Sakura said you can have it, then keep it, but just be warned, I may need that sword back before things are done," Seig said with a grin and pointing at Phantasmagoria again.

"Yeah, sure," Riku said nodding.

"Now, if there are no more questions, and there better not be, I'll get to explaining what's behind all this," Seig said rubbing his hands together eagerly.

"You mean someone controlling Antilus?" Anos asked from beside Bruxeus who jumped as he spoke, forgetting Anos was there.

"No, Antilus is the top dog, he's not one to work under someone else, at least not someone who isn't teaching him, and even then its strained," Seig said.

"There are very few who could know something Antilus would want to learn at this point. And his dislike of teachers was steep before his fall, it would be near vertical by now," Yen Sid added.

"What I mean is that we're not entirely sure what Antilus is trying to do. All we know is a full takeover of this realm, which only shows his ignorance. He's targeting the Omegas and the White King and Queen because they are the only ones he sees as able to stop him. The rest of us have placed ourselves on his hit list.

"What I'm going to be explaining is exactly what we're going to do to stop him, and why it matters. Antilus has no care for the Era of Kings, or the Age of Resolution, he just wants. We are the ones who will be bringing the end to the era. But before that a history lesson, and before the history a cosmology lesson. Sora, how many realms are there?" Seig asked leaning forward and looking at Sora.

"Um, well there's the Realm of Darkness, the Nano realm, the Realm of Light, and maybe Kingdom Hearts so… four?" Sora said hopefully.

"There's six. Two light, two dark, and two twilight. The first realm is the Realm of Morning, and is, as you said, Kingdom Hearts. The second realm is the Realm of Day or Realm of Light as you called it, and is where the White King and Queen, as well as their Knights are from. The third is the Realm of Dawn; the fourth is the Realm of Dusk which is where the Nobodies traveled through as well as being where the World that Never Was used to be. The fifth realm is the Realm of Midnight which you called the Realm of Darkness and is where the Heartless are from and where the Black Castle was moved to. The sixth realm is the Realm of Moon Night and is the Nano realm.

"You made the same mistake that Antilus is making, when you said Realm of Light, you meant this realm, but we're in the Realm of Dawn. To end the Era of Kings, we must remove what they rule over, take away their kingship. That means both light realms and dark realms," Seig said informatively.

"What about the other Nanos?" Anos demanded standing up.

"What about the people in the Realm of Light and the Nano realm?" Kairi asked almost at the same time as Anos' outburst.

"Gandalf and Sakura are currently if not already done evacuating the Realm of Day. And we will evacuate the Realm of Moon Night before we eliminate it as well. There will obviously be no loss from the Realm of Midnight being destroyed, and Gandalf told me the Realm of Morning is already gone, so we can see there was no backlash from that," Seig said as he made calming motions with his hands. As he spoke Anos sat back down.

"Okay I get that you want to end the Era of Kings, and how we're going to do that. I'm not sure how we destroy a realm but I'm guessing you do. What I don't get is how doing this will stop Antilus from getting what he wants," Riku said looking at Seig.

"Eventually Darkness will demand to know the full extent of Antilus' plan, if he hasn't already. Antilus will no doubt lie to him every time he asks, and Darkness will know it's a lie which is why he will ask again and again. At some point one of two things will happen: Darkness will have annoyed Antilus into telling him the truth or they will be at the point where lying is pointless. Either way Antilus will tell Darkness the true extent of his plan.

"I don't know his full plan, but I'm certain he want control of this realm. He's always seen it as his birth right, because he thinks this is the Realm of Light, the realm his mother is from, where she gets her powers, and where he gets his. Darkness knows the truth and will tell Antilus about the six realms. At which point Antilus will not only want to control this realm but he will need to keep the Realm of Day intact," Seig said with a grin.

"Which is why we destroy it. And we destroy the dark realms for balance, thus ending the Era of Kings," Riku said nodding his understanding.

"Correct, and now to history. I told you before that I remember before the Dooms Wars when the Kings got along. Well the conflict started when the Black King asked me to help him with something. It was an idea he had, a project. I admitted to not knowing much in the areas he needed and suggested Yen Sid help," Seig said gesturing to Yen Sid.

"I informed the Black King that it was an unwise path to take," Yen Sid said when Seig gestured to him.

"You were there too?" Kairi asked looking at Yen Sid.

"From the beginning, yes. At that time I was just coming into the magical abilities I have now. I was rather eager to test myself, but knew better than to try on something that I, also, did not fully understand," Yen Sid replied with a nod.

"This was before the Doom Wars right? Before the worlds first opened to each other?" Sora asked.

"Correct," Yen Sid said simply.

"How many of you were there back then, how many people did you know?" Kairi asked.

"Well, there were Sakura and Gandalf in the White castle; their Knights were still in the Realm of Day. Jenova and… you call him Jack in the Black Castle; they had no Knights at this time. And Yen Sid and I were allowed to live in the Grey Castle along with…" Seig trailed off and everyone looked at him confused.

"Clare," Yen Sid finished for him, his face somber.

"Who's Clare?" Anos asked looking back and forth between Yen Sid and Seig.

"John's mother, she's… she's on a mission now and not likely to return…" Seig said with his head hung low.

"Oh, sorry," Anos said quietly.

After a moment Seig raised his head back up, "Anyway, there were just the seven of us. We all lived on this world and got along rather well, and if the Kings worked together we could warp to a different world. That was the only way past the barriers. And if I remember correctly Jack's project was a way to let us teleport without needing the Kings or draining them so much. Gandalf didn't know much about it either but he was eager to find a way around the hurdle too so the pair worked together to find a solution.

"Things went bad and the barriers between the worlds broke which brought on the Dooms Wars. Gandalf and Jack blamed each other for the mistake and the friendship was put through its trials. The seven of us worked together to stop the wars, to quell the fighting and put things back to how they should have been. But something was working against us, egging on the fights and raising the mayhem. It's what brought out the Heartless, then the Nobodies.

"Jack was able to reign in the Heartless pretty well, but nothing we did would control the Nobodies. Its funny, I just now remembered the titles…" Seig said with a laugh as he looked across at Yen Sid.

Yen Sid 'humph'ed as he leaned back in his chair.

"What titles?" Kairi asked.

"I'm sure you know the Organization had a title for each of its members, they got this from Xehanort's memory with Antilus, who got it from the Omegas, who got it from us," Seig said looking at the Omegas.

"We did not get it from you," Xexox said sternly.

"Antilus got it from us?" Bruxeus asked.

"Yes he did, and yes you did. Xaal started it and you just followed her… his… its example," Seig explained.

"What are your titles?" Anos asked eagerly.

"It doesn't matter," Seig said.

"Embarrassed you gave yourselves titles?" Riku asked with a grin.

"They were given to us. We earned them on battlefields where we stopped the fights form happening, lessening the casualties. The Omegas started the trend of giving yourself a title," Yen Sid corrected.

"What were they?" Sora repeated Anos' question.

Seig looked at Yen Sid who sighed and nodded, "Yen Sid was the Sage of Time, and is thus the namesake of the mage groups of Sages of Our Time and Sages of All Time," Seig said simply.

"How'd you get that?" Riku asked looking at Yen Sid.

"Vast time spells. I would stop entire battle fields, remove or destroy all their weapons, then unstop them. I also sometimes slowed them and tried to persuade them against the fight," Yen Sid said informatively.

"And you?" Kairi asked looking at Seig.

"Heart's True Shade; and I won't tell how I got it," Seig answered before the next question could be asked.

"And the others?" Anos asked.

Seig put his head in his hand, "Jack was Heart's Black Soul; Jenova was the Calamity of the Skies; Gandalf was Heart's Pure Hold; Sakura was Truth Giving Grace and Clare was… Clare was the Last Warrior Standing…"

"She would enter the battlefield alone against both armies and when she was done all the others were down. She never killed one of them, only broke bones and knocked them out so they couldn't keep fighting. Everyone was afraid of her," Yen Sid said after a moment.

"That fear is part of what helped us end the wars and fix the barriers. Once everything was mended Gandalf and Jack had their big falling out and Jack moved the Black Castle. The fix we had wasn't as got as it was before the wars, Jacks goal of letting us warp on our own was achieved, but none of us were happy with the cost. After years of the argument festering it grew from a dispute into outright hate and Gandalf saw the start of the wars as being Jacks intention from the beginning.

"This led to words like 'good' and 'evil' being thrown around which led into Gandalf honestly believing that Jack needed to be destroyed for things to be safe again, his best and only real arguments were that it was Jacks idea for the warp that led to the Dooms Wars; and that he was the Black King which made him in great association with the Black Queen. Jenova had gone slightly insane from the wars, as evident by her title.

"She tended to stop the battles by arriving in a great fireball and killing everyone from both sides. The fear of her arriving was another big factor in letting us stop the wars, but she didn't get better when they were done. This led to them asking me and Clare for help in killing Jack and Jenova. Both Gandalf and Sakura are powerful, but their power is not as battle orientated as Jack and Jenova's, they would have no chance in a fight.

"Obviously Clare and I refused, both wanting the feud to end. But John saw Sakura, I didn't know then why he wanted to help them, but it didn't take that long to figure it out. You already know John's story, and what comes next," Seig said leaning far into the back of his chair.

"Why do we need to know all this though?" Sora asked confused.

"Because I'm sure some of it might be mentioned in some part over the course of the nest few days and I don't want you all asking what's going on while we're in the middle of a fight. Also, things might be mentioned in further detail, now you know the general story," Seig said looking at Sora from the back of his chair.

"Okay, so that's the end of the history, what's the game plan now?" Riku asked leaning forward.

"Tomorrow morning Xexox will be at the White Castle, or somewhere else far from the center of the conflict, performing a certain task for me. You all don't need to know what it is. Bruxeus will get Leon and the other two and bring them here, because the Nanos are bound to make a second attack in the morning. Anos and… someone will go into the Realm of Midnight while the Nanos attack and begin extracting people from the Realm of Moon Night," Seig said looking around the group.

"Who goes with Anos?" Sora asked.

"And why do I need to go, I'm a healer and Sora knows the way from the portal to the Cathedral just like me," Anos said.

"The Nanos on the other side of the portal won't listen to Sora like they will you. And who goes depends on who come with the army. Because who comes with affects who's left behind in the castle, and who Anos will have to avoid and may be up against," Seig said looking at Anos then Sora.

"Is that all for the night?" Kairi asked with a yawn.

"For you yes, I'd like a quick word with Riku, Sora, and Anos before they turn in," Seig said looking at the three boys.

They nodded as everyone else left to find some means of sleep only to notice that there were now three small cabins just outside the firelight. Yen Sid entered the one on the right and took one the two beds inside. The Omegas went to the one on the left and Xexox and Bruxeus had a quick debate over who would get top bunk of the single bunk-bed while Vaxer took the single bed in the cabin. Kairi entered the center cabin to see two bunk-beds. She sat on the lower bunk of one of them and waited for the boys to show up.

When the others were all in the cabins Seig leaned forward again and the three boys moved to sit closer to him, "first off, Riku, you asked a lot of questions tonight, I wasn't keeping count but I think we'll call us even on that front," Seig said looking at Riku who nodded. "Secondly, that job you're going to do for me-"

"Hey, Xexox hasn't ruled who won the fight, I might not have to do it," Riku said cutting him off.

"He called it a draw and we had the choice of either neither getting their end or we both do. Go ask if you don't believe me," Seig said with a grin and Riku scowled slightly. "I know I said it would be you and Sora on this, but I realized it would actually be all three of you."

"Wait what? What's going on?" Anos asked looking back and forth between Riku and Seig.

"They made a bet on a fight, Riku said if he lost me and him would do a job for Seig, Riku lost so we have to do it. Now he's saying we need your help to do it," Sora clarified.

"You can refuse if you want, but at least let me explain things first…" Seig said as he leaned in closer to the boys and dropped his voice.

-XXX-

Several minutes later Sora and Anos walked into their cabin to see Kairi sitting on the lower bed of the left hand bunk, he head rested against one of the polls supporting the top bunk, sleeping silently. They both smirked at the sight and Sora gestured for Anos to get on the other bunk, while he walked quietly over to Kairi.

Anos silently took the top bunk and watched as Sora gently eased Kairi onto the bed lying down and covered her with the blanket before he silently and stealthily moved to the top bunk. After a few more minutes Riku quietly entered the cabin and took the bunk under Anos. Moments after Riku got into his bunk the light from the fire outside went out as Seig extinguished the flames and went to his bed in the far right cabin.

The boys had agreed to the job he had for them, despite not knowing the finer details yet, and had all promised not to tell anyone what they had talked about. In addition to that he ha told Riku what he had wanted to tell him a few days ago but didn't have the time. That information was up to Riku whether or not it would spread; Seig would not tell others if Riku didn't want him to.

As Seig lay in bed his thoughts were of tomorrow. He remembered some things happening differently than they had now and he hopped tomorrow would be another one of those things. The tomorrow of his memories was full of bad news; he could only hope that they would be able to act fast enough to beat out that bad news.


End file.
